Lucy Patchett: What has the event turnout been like this year and what growth do you predict in the future?
Klaus Plaschka: This year, around 15,500 visitors from 67 countries gathered in Munich. A total of 307 exhibitors from 28 countries exhibited at Opti 2023. With an increase in visitors of 19.2% compared to the previous year’s special edition show.
The growth of Opti is also a socio-political question now. Will there be that growth within the whole economy, not just in our branch and our sector, but will the growth be indefinite, as it seemed to be in the past century? However, we want to reach higher and it has definitely been proven that the Opti family wants to meet up. This is the big restart of an international trade for many in Germany.
I would like to explicitly thank everyone who believed in Opti with us and made its success possible.
LP: How does Opti differ from other global tradeshows and what’s your strategy for exhibitors and content?
KP: Opti is an international affair but it bases its core market in Germany, which is strong. Around half of the exhibitors are from abroad and 50% are from Germany; a really good balance. I’m very happy that the independent areas are as strong as they should be. The independent labels are a big unique selling point of Opti and make it very attractive for opticians.
There’s a combination of traditional learning, brands and products, alongside the independent frame companies, that works well for opticians. They tell me: ‘As an optician going to visit Opti, we want to see the special, independent labels that make a difference in my retail shop.’
We are challenging ourselves to consider new participation formats, like the Myopia Hub. This means bringing in new formats for how brands can present themselves. For example, a seminar or forms of sponsorship. We intend to implement some roundtables, inviting the industry, opticians and media to co-create some new topics for next year.
LP: What was the biggest highlight of the show?
KP: The Optic Box awards were very emotional for me, with all those innovative start-ups presented, and the efforts shown. Seeing the industry united again in such a great atmosphere was also my highlight. We are quite proud of the small islands we created, like the Myopia Hub or the Sustainability Hub.
LP: The number of halls have reduced, compared to previous shows. How was this decided?
KP: This year, we had three halls and I think four halls is a natural, healthy size to aim for in 2024. However, it’s important for us that the whole spectrum of Opti is complete, it’s not about thinking in terms of ‘we need five halls to be happy,’ because we need the right people to come. It’s more about the quality of the environment than the quantity.
LP: How has the trade show landscape changed post-pandemic?
KP: The world is different compared to before the pandemic with several challenges now in the markets, like the cost of energy, the war in Ukraine and the logistics situation in China. The international global brands, especially, were a bit uncertain about the right decision to take. When they made the decisions for planning Opti half a year ago, it still wasn’t clear what the situation would be in Germany in winter, so this was our challenge in organising Opti. One key takeaway is that it’s about being flexible.
LP: How have you made the event more sustainable as part of the key theme of Opti 2023?
GHM sustainability manager Nina Gassauer: There’s a lot going on for German exhibition organisers on the topic of sustainability. Mainly, you have three dimensions: sharing the industry’s approach and building the thread of knowledge and awareness in optics, here we have the sustainability hub, then the venue and location; and how we execute Opti.
We are providing the space with clean energy (using a wastewater system and solar panels) and are in contact with the Trade Fair Center Messe München, shaping the CO2 neutrality with the aim to be CO2 neutral in 2030. I think there will be a lot of movement in the next few years, in areas like waste management and tracking visitors’ CO2 footprint. The biggest task for our whole industry is starting to measure things so we can set targets.