Around 300,000 visitors and 2,161 exhibitors: the Stuttgart CMT holiday exhibition is growing on a new scale.

Words Andrea Cattaneo

According to the experts, January’s CMT fair in Stuttgart has become a barometer for the motorhome and caravan industry. The CMT is proving to be “a magnet” for industry representatives from all over Europe, according to Holger Siebert, Vice President and Board Member for Public Relations at Germany’s Caravanning Industry Association CIVD. The CMT has impressively underpinned its status as the world’s largest public trade fair for tourism and leisure: “Over the course of nine days, we are thrilled to have welcomed around 300,000 visitors to our exhibition grounds and have 2,161 exhibitors. An absolute record!” said Roland Bleinroth, Managing Director of Messe Stuttgart, after this year’s CMT 2020. Guido von Vacano, member of the management, added: “The CMT has evolved brilliantly. We have extended our range of services and enhanced the profile of the tourism and caravanning sectors, which is captivating our visitors.” This success is attributed to the fair having an even greater number and wider variety of caravanning accessories, a new focus on “Vanlife”, new and attractive tourist destinations to consider, a supporting program with over 600 events and successful mini-fairs on areas such as biking and hiking, golf and wellness trips, as well as cruise and ship trips.

Another factor for success is the expanded programme of events for trade visitors. This year, over 40 events were available for trade visitors at the new CMT Business platform. The camping area for caravans and motorhomes and the additional parking spaces in the “Motel CMT” were very popular again with a record number of 8,000 overnight vehicles registering to stay during the show. The subsidiary trade fairs covering activities like golf and wellness trips plus cruise and boat trips, opened their doors on the second weekend of the CMT, from Thursday to Sunday. Their exhibitors were extremely satisfied. Around 250 companies presented their innovations and offers for the golf and holiday year 2020 in Hall 9. On the first weekend of the CMT, bicycle and hiking trips were the focus of interest as this area of tourism is enjoying growing popularity. The 350 exhibitors in this area confirmed they were extremely satisfied with the level of interest from visitors.

Opinions

Alexander Leopold, CEO of Dethleffs “The CMT 2020 gave Dethleffs an excellent start to the new year! We are happy to have seen an enormous number of visitors. What was particularly striking was the large number of young families and couples who visited the Dethleffs stand with precise ideas and very specific purchasing intentions – an interesting target group for us, who in many cases are just discovering caravanning, who are perfectly suited for our modern, well designed vehicles.”
Bernd Wuschack, Managing Director of Sales, Marketing and Customer Service, Carthago “The Carthago Group draws an extremely positive conclusion from exhibiting at the CMT. Whether it was the number of visitors to the stands of our Carthago and Malibu brands, or the intensity of contacts or the number of deals, we saw a further increase on the first weekend compared to the already very successful previous year. This positive impression solidified over the entire duration of the fair across our entire range.”
Holger Schulz, Managing Director, Hobby “This year’s CMT is our most successful exhibition ever in Stuttgart; what a fabulous way to start 2020! The high numbers of visitors and deals confirm that we are on the right track with our brand development at Hobby. We have generated a great deal of interest from customers of all ages and registered exceptionally high demand for our various family floor plans with children’s beds.”
Nils Ihsen, Sales Manager for Leisure Vehicles, Thule “We are really pleased with CMT 2020. We met such high-quality visitors and registered a record number of visitors to our stand. Not just in terms of quantity, but the quality of the visitors was far higher than last year too. Next year, we will be back at CMT with the same size stand, if not bigger.”

La Strada Nova EB
This new version of the Nova, one of the more unusual model on the market today, was presented at the CMT show. True to the original design concept, it is constructed with a fibreglass monocoque body, rather than the usual assembly method of joining sandwich panel walls together, and is smoothly integrated with a Mercedes Sprinter cab and chassis.

Bürstner Campeo
Bürstner presented a new series of campervans, differing from its current City Car in several ways. The interior decor is more modern, but the real innovation is the continuity of space between the driver’s cabin and the passenger compartment, made possible by the removal of the roof over the cab. Another addition, which is now in great demand on the European market, is the optoin of an elevating roof with canvas walls. The Campeo range has three versions, in the classic sizes of 541, 599 and 636 cm body length.

Etrusco Vanolo
The brand of Erwin Hymer Group extends its product range and presents a new campervan, the Vanolo. An optional pop-top roof creates two additional sleeping spaces for maximum flexibility. The new Vanolo Campervan series is available in five different layouts and in three different leghts: 541, 599 and 636 cm.

Laika Kosmo Campervan
Introduced last year, Laika’s Kosmo Campervans have been enhanced with the addition of a lifting roof with canvas walls as an option. The space created by raising the roof includes a double bed, which brings the number of beds available to four. The roof is accessed via a handy removable ladder in the dinette area.

Bürstner Delfin
The new semi-integrated model uses a name Bürstner has already used in the past. The Delfin is based on a Citroen Jumper. It is offered in different layouts with interior variants (for example Mocca and Blau) heavily focusing on colour combinations of modern soft shades.

Eura Mobil Activa One 650 HS
There is a new layout for the double-floor equipped Activa One: the 650 HS. This model offers a mid-range campervan with overcab for those who do not want an expensive motorhome. This provides an interesting solution for two people who want a large living area and do not need many beds.
Above the cab there are two single beds (convertible into double), accessible via a ladder, while in the rear area there is a large U-shaped lounge with a dining table. If required, the rear sofa can be converted into two travel seats and two additional sleeping places. The vehicle has a body length of 650 cm