ISPO will change location in 2026: Amsterdam will host the world’s most important trade fair for the ski industry.

For more than five decades, ISPO (Internationale Fachmesse für Sportartikel und Sportmode) has been the world’s leading trade fair for the sporting goods industry, technical clothing and outdoor equipment. Every year, tens of thousands of professionals from the sports industry — from manufacturers to distributors, brands, retailers, ski resorts and specialised media — attend this event to showcase and discover the latest innovations in the world of sport, especially in the field of skiing and mountain sports.

Since its founding in Munich in 1970, ISPO has established itself as the largest international showcase for sports, with an undisputed leading role in the snow and winter sports sector. Over the years, ISPO has consolidated its position as the world’s leading trade fair for sports equipment, technical innovation and winter outdoor trends. Although there are other specialised events such as Slide & OTS Winter in the United Kingdom, Prowinter in Italy and Alpitec in China, none has achieved the global reach, cross-cutting nature and drawing power of ISPO.

Its international scale and ability to bring together manufacturers, brands, designers, buyers, athletes, distributors and niche media outlets in one place has made it the barometer of the winter sports industry for decades. It has been the venue for the presentation of revolutionary technologies and technological innovations from the best ski brands, smart technical clothing with new textile technologies and waterproof membranes, new binding systems, the BOA system in ski boots, safety tools such as avalanche transceivers (ATs) and freeride airbags. But ISPO is not just a showcase; it is a space for networking, business deals and trend forecasting. In short: ISPO is the world’s largest sports business event and is where the direction of the winter sports industry is defined.

The historic announcement: ISPO is moving to Amsterdam

Messe München—the long-standing organiser of ISPO—and Raccoon Media Group have announced a landmark decision: from 2026, ISPO will leave Munich and move to the RAI exhibition centre in Amsterdam. The last edition in Munich will take place from 30 November to 2 December 2025. From 2026, the new event will be brought forward and take place in early November.

“Redefining ISPO as a global, modern platform that is open and connected to the new realities of sport and responsible consumption.”

This move comes alongside a major strategic restructuring: a joint venture has been created between the two organisations and an investment of €3 million has been announced, earmarked for high-level content programmes (presentations, conferences, think tanks), incentives for international buyers (hosted buyer programme) and support for non-profit organisations linked to sport and sustainability in a new format that will not neglect its “musts”, which undoubtedly include ISPO Brandnew and the ISPO Awards.

Although the news has been enthusiastically received by those who value the international openness of the new format, it has also sparked a certain nostalgia among professionals in the snow sector, who are accustomed to linking their visit to ISPO with their first real contact with the mountains. One of the implicit advantages of the Munich venue was precisely this geographical connection with the Bavarian Alps: although resorts such as Garmisch-Partenkirchen do not usually have their slopes fully operational at that time of year, the nearby Zugspitze (only 96 km from Munich) is the highest glacier in Germany and normally allows skiing at the end of November. Many attendees—especially international ones—took advantage of their stay to test products on real snow or treat themselves to a day at altitude before or after the fair. With the move to Amsterdam, that possibility disappears: the direct connection to the mountains is replaced by a more urban proposal, connected to global networks, but physically distant from the terrain that gives meaning to much of the mountain sector.

Goodbye Munich, hello Amsterdam: the reasons behind the change

When Messe München announced the relocation of ISPO to Amsterdam from 2026 onwards, it was not a spur-of-the-moment or purely logistical decision. It was the result of a strategic reading of the current context, of how market behaviour has changed after a decade of profound transformations.

The pandemic not only slowed down winter tourism and sporting events; it also altered the way brands, buyers and professionals interact with each other. Traditional trade fairs, designed as large physical showcases, have lost some of their appeal in a world where digitalisation allows people to discover, compare and even close deals without having to travel thousands of kilometres.

“In the United States, winter sports fairs have collapsed” – Mike Seaman

Far from resisting this transformation, ISPO has decided to anticipate it. The new headquarters in Amsterdam reflects a clear desire to reinvent the format: less focused on expensive square metres of exhibition space and more oriented towards creating valuable content, meetings between leaders, selected buyer programmes and meaningful experiences. And we must not overlook a critical factor: the decline in the number of exhibitors and visitors in Munich, which has a direct impact on stand revenue, sponsorship and profitability, has also led to a change of venue, paradigm and management model. Furthermore, ISPO and its new managers have understood that:

“The emotional connection, the authenticity of the story behind the product, and the environmental impact are now as important as design or technology.”

The new trade fair model being planned in the Dutch capital seeks precisely that: to generate community, reflection and strategic direction, not just exhibition.

Furthermore, the change of city is not insignificant. Amsterdam offers superior international accessibility to Munich and, in addition, many brands have their headquarters there. Its Schiphol Airport is one of the continent’s main air hubs, facilitating the arrival of professionals from key markets such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Scandinavia and even Asia. In an environment where brands seek to connect with wider audiences, the location of the trade fair becomes a strategic variable, not just an operational one. Consider, for example, emerging splitboard brands in Norway or sustainable technical textile start-ups based in London: the new ISPO format could be a gateway to the global ecosystem for them, without the logistical or cost barriers that Munich entailed.

The entrepreneurial drive behind this transition is also significant. Raccoon Media Group, the new co-organiser alongside Messe München, brings a fresh perspective, with a track record in modern events focused on user experience, social impact and content value. Trade fairs such as The National Running Show and The Outdoor Expo, managed by this group in the United Kingdom, have shown that it is possible to attract a professional and enthusiastic audience with more agile, participatory and emotional formats. ISPO wants to channel that energy to reposition itself in a market where the product is no longer enough: what counts is the story, the ethics, the community behind it.

Ski resorts: the missing piece in the ISPO ecosystem?

It is revealing that, despite their importance in the snow ecosystem, ski resorts do not traditionally appear as direct exhibitors at ISPO. The event’s historical focus on products and retail has left mountain tourist destinations off the radar. When they do participate, their presence is usually limited to one-off collaborations or peripheral spaces, while the bulk of their promotion takes place at tourism fairs or specific professional conferences, which are also in decline.

However, the change of venue and focus proposed by the new ISPO in Amsterdam opens up an interesting opportunity. If the fair wants to be a forum for ideas, trends and the future — and not just for products — then the resorts should be there. Not to sell ski passes, but to share their vision on sustainability, energy transition, digitalisation of the visitor experience and climate risk management.

“No one knows the reality of the mountains better than those who operate there every winter.”

At a time when skiing transcends its sporting dimension to establish itself as a comprehensive experience with a strong emotional, identity and environmental component, resorts and entities such as La Compagnie des Alpes, Verbier and Baqueira Beret have much to contribute to the international debate. ISPO could become an ideal platform to project that voice, strengthen their global positioning and establish strategic alliances with brands, start-ups and key entities in the sector.

The mountains are changing, and with them the way we experience, think about and manage them. In this new landscape, product and destination can no longer be separated. Perhaps the time has come for ski resorts to finally take centre stage… and if it’s in Amsterdam, surrounded by canals and new ideas, so much the better.