Attracts 145 exhibitors from 12 countries
The sixth edition of Busworld Turkey, organised by Busworld International, and its Turkish partner, HKF Trade Fairs, closed its doors on April 17. The four-day exhibition that started on April 14 attracted a total of 145 exhibitors from 12 countries, of which 122 were from Turkey, while 23 exhibitors came from 11 countries like China, Taiwan, the UK and different European nations. The total area covered was 10.425 sqm. All the exhibitors expressed their high appreciation of the exhibition facilities provided.
‘Zevk Elektronik’ said: “Generally speaking, the fair was well organized and we are satisfied with the quality of buyers. We received many orders. We met with new customers, especially from this region.” ‘Tribus Minibus’ said: “The organization was very professional and we were satisfied with the quality of the visitors as well.”
Busworld Turkey welcomed 11.078 visitors from 91 countries. 1.519 persons came from abroad, which means that the international visitor percentage was up from 14 per cent in 2014 to almost 16 per cent in 2016. For the Busworld organisation this definitely is a plus point, since Busworld focuses on organising international exhibitions, which makes them stand out from local exhibitions. Busworld Turkey became a meeting point of major companies and brands from the Middle East, Eastern Europe, the UAE, North Africa, the Commonwealth of Independent States, Iran and Iraq.
The top 10 visitor countries were Turkey, Germany, Bulgaria, Iran, Ukraine, Romania, Egypt, the UK, the UAE and China.
Visitors seemed highly satisfied with the exhibition. Mr. Walid Akoury of Akoury Transport and Palestine Group, said: “The exhibition was very good and we bought some buses and minibuses of 19 passengers. The fair impresses me with the product variety and exhibitors’ profiles. We found new suppliers and also met with existing partners.”
Another visitor, Mr. Awadallah Ibrahim of Birzeit Bani Zaid Bus, stated: “The level of the fair was satisfying and the exhibition very interesting. The excellent organizer’s service and new bus models impressed us most.”
Didier Ramoudt, President of Busworld International, was very happy with the expo results and the comments of exhibitors and visitors. He observed: “It is clear that Busworld confirms its leading position as the international B2B event for bus and coach in Istanbul!”
The world media was well represented at Busworld Turkey with more than 30 international members of the professional press being present at the press conferences.
In 2018, Busworld Turkey will leave halls 9, 10 and 11 and will move to the new fairground of the Ýstanbul Expo Center. This new project will occupy 300.000 sqm in total, including a shopping mall, a la carte and fastfood restaurants and an 8.000 sqm parking area. The construction of the first part was already visible for the Busworld visitors, who could see a gigantic construction right next to the entrance of hall 11. The eco-friendly, innovative and ‘Leed Certificated’ new fairground will add great practical value to the Busworld Turkey 2018 fair.
Busworld Turkey was also proud to host the Busworld Academy & IRU Congress “moving towards a sustainable bus and coach future”, supported by TOBB. It was organised on April 14 and 15 in one of the conference rooms. Interesting topics were presented and discussed, mainly about where the future of bus and coach industry.
Industry decision makers and members of the press from Turkey, Asia, the Commonwealth of Independent States and Europe discussed the theme of the congress which presented a very good platform for exchange of ideas and thoughts for a more sustainable bus and coach transport.
Debates revolved around innovative industry policies, while major bus and coach operators also showcased their innovative products and business models and gave an overview of the market situation in neighbouring regions. IRU presented its Smart Move campaign aimed at doubling the use of buses and coaches by 2020.
Mr. Rifat Hisarciklioglu, President of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), Mr. Mustafa Ilicali, Parliamentarian of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, and Mr. Saban Atlas, Deputy-Under Secretary of the Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications, formally opened the congress.
Over 100 industry leaders and high level decision makers also attended a networking event organised by IRU in partnership with Busworld Turkey, as well as visiting IRU’s stand during the Busworld Turkey Exhibition.
Busworld plans five shows every year by 2018
Considering the challenging political environment in the country, the sixth edition of Busworld Turkey proved to be extremely successful, given the fact that it brought together almost all of the region’s key stakeholders in the bus and coach industry under one roof, as it has done in its last five editions. To find out more about how Busworld plans, functions, works out expansion strategies and handles challenges, we spoke to Mr. Didier H.C. Ramoudt, President, Busworld International, on the sidelines of the show.
Excerpts:
How was the response for Busworld Turkey this year?
Turkey is one of the largest bus and coach markets in the world. For some specific reasons, some coach manufacturers could not participate in the show this year. We expected greater participation in the show in spite of the unexpected challenges. With renewed hope, we are waiting for the 2018 show.
We see a lot of traction for the upcoming Busworld shows in Moscow and Columbia, which indicates you are expanding at the global level. How is the progress?
We are in talks for taking Busworld to many countries around the world. This year, as you can see, we are not afraid to take up challenges. We are planning to go to Latin America which is a developed bus market. Colombia is a very important market due to its location and its road network is better than in many other countries. We also have Mexico, Peru and Brazil nearby which make it very attractive also for the Chinese bus manufacturers. In fact, there is not much competition in North America where Marcopolo has the largest market share. In Latin America, we have all major manufacturers like Scania, Volvo and Daimler, to name a few.
We understand you are also looking at markets like Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Can we expect to see Busworld in these countries too?
These are several countries with a limited number of private cars with people largely depending on public transportation, including buses. Not many exhibitions are happening in these countries and a good show can attract those in neighboring markets as well. We do not see much of competition and would hence definitely like to explore the possibility of conducting a Busworld show in these countries.
What more do you think Busworld could do towards development of bus markets globally?
We see globalization happening in bus and coach manufacturing with many big companies coming together and making joint ventures. We would like to be a part of this globalization drive. Simultaneously, we are developing what we call a bus library which would be a huge data bank for all bus companies, operators, etc. With this library, an operator can directly contact the manufacturer and vice versa, and similarly the stakeholders can contact each other for their requirements. The library is due for release soon and would be easily accessible on a membership basis.
How is this year’s Busworld India show shaping up?
It seems to be a very good move of shifting the show to Bangalore. We are already in talks with all major bus manufacturers and hopefully all of them would be participating in the show this year.
How has Busworld managed to keep up its brand value with many other fairs coming up?
We at Busworld have our own strengths and approaches. We know what is happening in different markets because we had all been bus operators in the past. We know that the different brands, and speak with experience. We are a federation and are well informed of the market situation in different countries. This helps us maintain our position in the market.
Do you have any specific targets to achieve by 2020?
Yes, we would like to have five Busworld shows per year by 2018. So, every two years we will have 10 Busworld shows in different parts of the globe.