Visitors jam the Harley-Davidson exhibit during EICMA 2010 in Milan.
MILAN—Here’s a positive sign that interest among motorcyclists, at least in Europe, is alive and well. Crowds jammed the six-day EICMA show here last week, according to sales figures released by the show management. The numbers are very good, even though retail sales of bikes in Italy are down this year.
According numbers provided by show management, consumer traffic on Thursday was up 5% over the same day last year, 18% on Friday, 24% on Saturday, and 13% on a cold and rainy Sunday. That means attendance topped 500,000 visitors compared to about 450,000 at last year’s show.
Part of the reason for the gains, said EICMA Director Constantino Ruggiero, was the return of exhibitors Honda and Yamaha. Honda played a leading role, holding a huge press conference in the number one spot on the schedule Tuesday to kick off the show.
The show also drew 45,708 trade visitors, including 12,853 foreigners, and 2,104 accredited journalists. Meanwhile, EICMA’s website also recorded strong gains, climbing from 271,438 visitors to 340,664 visitors. JD
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