With an expanded exhibit floor, a record-breaking number of exhibitors and a number of new features and networking opportunities, SHOT Show 2024 was the largest yet. More than 55,400 industry professionals filled the more than 22 kilometres of aisles in the Venetian Expo and Caesars Forum over four days to learn about new, innovative products for the shooting sports, hunting, outdoor activities or LE/military sectors. As in previous years, numerous European exhibitors also took part in the SHOT Show, many of them on a joint booth.
After the German Federal Ministry of Economics announced the end of the sponsorship of the "German Pavilion" at the SHOT Show in Las Vegas in a surprising decision in spring 2023, NürnbergMesse thankfully, and above all courageously, stepped into the breach and created a new international joint stand... the "IWA Pavilion"!
IWA Pavilion: best location and a digital bridge between the SHOT Show and IWA OutdoorClassics 2024 trade fairs
Centrally located in the middle of the main hall, the Pavilion offered international companies and partners of IWA OutdoorClassics an introduction to the American market. A total of 13 exhibitors, including 11 direct exhibitors and 2 co-exhibitors, were represented at the Pavilion:
Schmidt & Bender, Hoernecke, FBT Fine Ballistic Tools, Zollern, Theissen, Intarso, Hans Wrage, Huntex, Ballistol, Spohr, STP Prommersberger, Eemann Tech and SW North America.
In addition to hunting guns and optics, the product range also included gun care products, oils, gun technology and machinery. We spoke to some of the exhibitors at the IWA Pavilion and the feedback was consistently positive: everyone was pleased with the good organisation, continuous support and supply as well as the top location of the new pavilion. Of course, many of the other German companies represented throughout the SHOT Show exhibition areas also took advantage of the service and support provided by the IWA delegation in Las Vegas; the IWA is also traditionally supported by the Association of German Gunsmiths and Gun Dealers (VDB) and the Association of Manufacturers of Hunting, Sporting Arms and Ammunition (JSM) as conceptual sponsors.
Although the two trade fairs compete with each other, they have also been cooperating for years, as the SHOT Show also advertises with its own stand at the Nuremberg IWA, especially as a large number of U.S. manufacturers traditionally occupy their own area in one of the exhibition halls. In recent years, Asian trade fair visitors and exhibitors from this region have also tended to come to Nuremberg rather than fly to Las Vegas because it was cheaper in terms of travel and exhibition costs and the IWA (for example in the airsoft sector or for knives) focussed on other product groups.
Visitors are very familiar with the respective profiles of the two firearms fairs and focus their tour of the fair on the different product groups, which means that the two fairs complement each other through their overlaps. And while the SHOT Show attracts a massive number of private customers for self-defence and self-protection due to the different legal situation in the USA, the IWA has also opened up to this increasingly important segment. Enforce Tac, which precedes the IWA as an independent security trade fair, is increasingly focussing on internal and external security as a trade fair theme and is aimed at security specialists, law enforcement and the military. These differences and similarities were also evident in many of the discussions at the IWA Pavilion at SHOT Show 2024.
In addition, the IWA Pavilion at the Shot Show 2024 offered a digital extension to Europe with the IWA Living Room. There, IWA Press Manager Georg Loichinger welcomed guests and dialogue partners for interviews on various topics. The studio format was published almost in real time through the IWA OutdoorClassics YouTube channel. In addition to well-known faces from the industry such as Polenar Tactical, Forgotten Weapons, Airsofthelden and Danielle Valkyrie (who has also often reported for all4shooters.com), our editorial colleagues Tanja and Marijan were also able to take a seat in the Living Room and spoke to Georg Loichinger about possible trends at the trade fair, what we are likely to see again at IWA 2024 and what highlights we can expect at this year's 50th anniversary edition of the IWA trade fair.
VIDEO: Tanja Loch and Marijan Loch from all4shooters.com in an interview with Georg Loichinger at the SHOT Show 2024
All information about the SHOT Show, Enforce Tac and IWA OutdoorClassics 2024 trade fairs
Almost three weeks have now passed since the SHOT Show and at least the regular readers of all4shooters.com and all4hunters.com already know more about what will be happening in the halls of NürnbergMesse from February 26, 2024. A few more info reports will follow before the opening of Enforce Tac (and IWA OutdoorClassics three days later).
+++ For all our fans who are unable to attend these trade fairs, we will be on site as usual with lots of international videos and up-to-the-minute reporting +++
All reports and videos from the SHOT Show 2024 at all4shooters.com
All information on Enforce Tac 2024 (February 26 to 28, 2024)
All information on IWA OutdoorClassics 2024 so far
Click here for the official websites of Enforce Tac 2024 and IWA OutdoorClassics 2024 with all the information on entry requirements.
And finally, the social media channels:
all4shooters.com on YouTube
all4shooters.com on Facebook
all4shooters.com | daily news (@all4shooters) - Instagram photos and videos
Marijan Loch (@marijan_aa1shooting) - Instagram photos and videos
Tanja Loch (@t.shooting.journey) - Instagram photos and videos
