IFMA
The IFMA took place every two years in Cologne until 1996 as an international bicycle and motorcycle exhibition . After that, it was an annual bicycle fair at the same location as the international bicycle market until 2008 , which was ideally supported by the two-wheeled industry association (ZIV).
The first IFMA was organized by the Association of the Bicycle and Motorcycle Industry (VFM) from October 28 to November 4, 1951, the second from October 18 to 25, 1953 in Frankfurt am Main . Frankfurt soon lost it to the trade fair in Cologne ( Koelnmesse ), where it was a permanent fixture in the trade fair calendar until 1996. IFMA was always reserved for trade visitors on Thursdays and Fridays , while on Saturdays and Sundays it was also open to a broad private audience.
From 1998 the motorcycle division moved to the trade fair in Munich as Intermot for several years . Since 1991, IFMA has also faced strong competition from the new Eurobike in Friedrichshafen, which takes place a few weeks earlier every year . After the loss of the motorcycle division, the new IFMA was therefore also held annually. Attempts were also made to bind the public through numerous cycling events, including international competitions such as the World Trials Championship in 2006. Nevertheless, the number of visitors continued to crumble. From September 14th to 17th, 2007 only 48,000 professionals and private individuals found their way to IFMA on the new north site of the Cologne trade fair.
As a reaction to this, Koelnmesse decided to merge the bicycle division after 2008 with the Intermot motorcycle trade fair , which had been regained from Munich in 2006 , and thus to reintroduce the previous two-year cycle . The last IFMA took place from September 18-21, 2008. In the following year, Cologne had no two-wheeler fair and since 2010 has actually been organizing the old “Bicycle and Motorcycle Exhibition” under the name “Intermot”.
Individual evidence
- ↑ koeln.de: IFMA bicycle fair merged with Intermot , September 6, 2008