• Great international interest
• Exhibitors and visitors both highly satisfied
• Turnover of more than 40 million euros
• Important platform for the issue of species conservation

With around 72,000 visitors and a new record in exhibitor stand space, this year's JAGD & HUND (31 January to 5 February 2012) came to a successful end today. "We are delighted about the consistently high international interest on the part of both exhibitors and visitors. JAGD & HUND's reputation as the leading exhibition in the field has gone far beyond the borders of Europe," says Sabine Loos, Chairman and CEO of Westfalenhallen Dortmund GmbH. This year, Europe's largest exhibition for hunting and fishing featured 686 exhibitors from 34 countries. In a total of seven exhibition halls, they offered a comprehensive selection of products and information on the topics of hunting, fishing, dogs and nature.

This year at JAGD & HUND there was a clear increase in per capita turnover, as was shown by the visitor survey carried out by an independent exhibition market research institute. Nine out of ten visitors bought or ordered something at the exhibition and spent an average of 667 euros. As a result, the total turnover for exhibitors at JAGD & HUND was 40 million euros.

International interest consistently high

JAGD & HUND is in constant demand internationally, from both exhibitors and visitors. 27.5 per cent of exhibiting companies and 12.9 per cent of visitors came from abroad this year, including from Austria, the Benelux countries, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, the Russian Federation, Sweden and Switzerland. Individual visitors even travelled to the exhibition from such far away continents as America, Africa and Australia. This year, visitors were prepared to travel even further to get to JAGD & HUND. Well over half of visitors planned to travel between 100 and more than 300 kilometres to get to JAGD & HUND. However, 21.8 per cent still only had to travel 50 to 100 kilometres.

"It's clear to see that the exhibition is becoming increasingly important"

Good international contacts went down well with the exhibitors at JAGD & HUND: "As an internationally active company, it is important for us to present ourselves internationally. Belgian, Dutch, French and other European customers came and visited our exhibition stand," says Cord Dreyer from the sales division of Kettner Austria responsible for German operations. "As Europe's leading hunting exhibition, JAGD & HUND is very important for us as it allows us to have contact with the final consumers and to show the profile and quality of Kettner. We had really positive feedback and turnover was good," says Dreyer.

Cudworth of Norden, a Canadian manufacturer of top quality country wear was delighted with the many European contacts: "We had a great number of visitors from all over Europe. It was a great success for us. Here in Dortmund we have found a specific target group that knows exactly what it wants. We'll be coming back next year without a doubt," says managing director Sarah Cudworth.

"JAGD & HUND is the leading exhibition in the German-speaking world. It's clear to see that the exhibition is becoming increasingly important," says Franz Reinthaler, managing director of the Austrian hunting equipment supplier Alp Jagd. "Particularly for us as a mail order company it is key, as we can get to know the customers personally within a short period of time. And as for turnover, we have made more than last year. We are thinking about increasing our exhibition space next year," says Reinthaler.

Dortmund as an exhibition location and the home of JAGD & HUND also got top marks from the visitors this year. 38.8 per cent awarded the score "good", whilst 35.4 per cent even gave the score "very good".

JAGD & HUND: the perfect framework for key issues in the field

As Europe's leading exhibition for hunting and fishing, JAGD & HUND offered an outstanding backdrop for discussing the key issues in hunting and fishing. High-ranking national and international guests were invited to the official opening of JAGD & HUND. One of the issues being discussed was the amendment of the hunting act in the individual German states. In his official speech, Kurt Alexander Michael, chair of the Jagdschutzverband e. V. [association for the protection of hunting] and president of the Landesjagdverband Rheinland-Pfalz [Rhineland-Palatinate hunting association], called upon hunters to make the public aware of species conservation and the protection of animals and praised JAGD & HUND as a "good platform for positive public relations in terms of hunting". Jochen Borchert, a retired German minister and president of the Landesjagdverband NRW e. V. [NRW hunting association], stressed the importance of hunting for the preservation of indigenous wildlife in his opening speech, highlighting that the stocks of endangered species such as the snipe or the corncrake have reduced dramatically since being deprived of hunters' gamekeeping.

Birds of prey a real hit

JAGD & HUND's signature feature is the extensive international product range combined with high quality information and exciting promotional areas. Public favourites in the hunting area included the presentation and free flight of the birds of prey and owls at the event area in hall 3B and the action stage in hall 4, the presentation of hunting dog breeds on the stages in halls 4 and 8, the game cooking studio in hall 8 and the numerous hunting horn bands, delighting the guests with hunting horns, par force horns, French horns and natural horns through to half-moon horns. In the fishing area, the fisheries and sea fishing forum was rated most highly by visitors and the Fish’n’Fun fishing show was very popular.

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Please find below the detailed interim final report as PDF for download.