At first glance, Prowinter 2026 did not appear to be a trade show striving for superlatives. Sunday was quiet, almost subdued. Monday was extremely well attended and clearly the day when most of the business was done. Tuesday then unfolded at a steady pace rather than in a hectic rush. And when exhibitors were asked how they felt about the 26th edition of the winter and mountain sports trade show in Bolzano, one phrase kept coming up: “Just like the good old days.”
Those “good old days,” however, are not about size or spectacle. They are about relevance, time for conversation and a sense that the right people were in the room. With 5,400 admissions from 35 countries, 230 exhibitors representing around 400 brands, and a clearly internationalized profile, Prowinter 2026 underlined its growing role as a focused B2B hub for winter sports. And increasingly for outdoor business beyond skiing.
Quality over quantity, by design
“We are not trying to be the biggest,” says Geraldine Coccagna, Brand Manager of Prowinter. “Our goal is qualitative development rather than quantitative growth. A compact, high-quality trade show that is clearly focused on business, relationships and sustainability.”
That philosophy was evident throughout the show. Monday was by far the busiest day, with strong international attendance, while Sunday was deliberately tested as a potential buffer day for visitors who struggle to travel during the week. “The idea behind Sunday was to see whether we could attract new visitors, especially international ones, who otherwise wouldn’t make it,” Coccagna explains. Whether Sunday will remain part of the format is still open, but the experiment reflects a willingness to adapt without compromising the show’s core identity.
Exhibitors largely confirmed that approach. Foot traffic may not have been overwhelming, but conversations were. Many brands reported long, focused meetings, often 20 minutes or more per customer – something that would be unthinkable at larger, high-density shows. “At the end of the day,” Coccagna says, “what matters is that exhibitors can say: yes, I met exactly the people I wanted to meet.”
A second hall. And a broader horizon
One of the most visible changes at Prowinter 2026 was the opening of a second exhibition hall, almost fully dedicated to outdoor. The new space hosted the Scandinavian Village, as usual developed by the Scandinavian Outdoor Group. And this time, in cooperation with the Italian Outdoor Group. Apparel, year-round mountain sports and Nordic as well as Italian brands took center stage.
“The winter landscape is changing fundamentally,” says Günther Acherer, who has served as President of the Italian Outdoor Group within Assosport since 2020. “Winter business is moving increasingly toward outdoor. Skiing remains important, but there are many more ways people move in the mountains. That needs visibility.” For Acherer, the strategic ambition is clear: Prowinter should become a meeting point for European outdoor brands, with winter sports as the anchor. Not a “leading mega-show,” he stresses, but a focused platform. “The era of the all-encompassing leading fair is fading. Today, it’s about going deeper into specific themes.”
That message resonated with Scandinavian exhibitors. “The combination of the Scandinavian Village and the IOG area exceeded all expectations,” said Martin Kössler of HuginBiz on site. “The Nordic brands feel very comfortable here, and they are doing good business.”
On-snow testing that actually delivers
If there is one format that consistently receives praise, it is the Prowinter Test Days in Carezza. The tests took place on Monday and Tuesday under perfect weather conditions (on groomed artificial snow) and once again proved their worth. Next year’s equipment from the Pool Sci Italia partners was on offer, as well as from Stöckli and Stereo Skis, the brand that former pro Kjetil André Aamodt is involved with. “Retailers can test products in the morning, discuss them in the afternoon and place orders immediately. This sequence is incredibly powerful,” says Coccagna, commenting on the connection between the trade show and the ski test, which is just under 40 minutes from the Fiera Bolzano exhibition center.
The test format has been streamlined over the years. Earlier attempts to cover multiple disciplines proved too complex. Today, the focus is clearly on resort skis, supported by Pool Sci Italia, which also subsidizes accommodation for participating retailers. The result is high participation and strong feedback, without forcing exhibitors to overstretch their teams.
Sustainability moves from rhetoric to structure
Sustainability was more than a side topic in 2026. Parallel events such as the Winter Sports Sustainability Network Meeting and the Ski Industry Climate Summit brought CEOs and sustainability managers to Bolzano, reinforcing Prowinter’s ambition to be a platform for future-facing dialogue. For the first time, the Prowinter Award also included a dedicated environmental responsibility criterion, assessed with the support of an ESG specialist. “Transparency and credibility matter,” Coccagna says. “Sustainability can’t just be a label. It needs structure.”
How international, and for whom?
There is little doubt that Prowinter has made major strides in internationalization. Thirty percent of exhibitors now come from outside Italy, and visitors from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Scandinavia, Benelux and Eastern Europe were highly visible on the show floor. At the same time, the organizers are clear-eyed about where Prowinter sits in the European trade show ecosystem. The ambition is not to compete head-on with every regional show, but to complement them. Prowinter sees itself as the key B2B platform for Central, Eastern and Southern Europe as well as the Nordics, while acknowledging that Slide & OTS serves the UK market, Sport Achat remains the primary show for France.
“We don’t want to interfere in markets that already have a strong, established platform,” Thomas Mur, Managing Director, Fiera Bolzano SpA, noted during a press Q&A together with Coccagna and Kössler. “But there is a clear gap for a Central European winter sports show with strong links to the Nordics and Eastern Europe, and that’s where we see our role.”
How big can Prowinter get?
Growth, however, has natural limits. Fiera Bolzano still has around 4,000 square meters of expansion potential across its two halls. Once that capacity is exhausted, future growth would have to come from stricter booth-size management rather than additional space. Acherer sees that as a healthy constraint. “We don’t want brand temples. Everything has to stay within reasonable budgets.” At the same time, internationalization is changing exhibitor profiles. Distributors who once booked 10 square meters are now reserving 30 or more as brands increasingly appear with European or global headquarters teams. The goal for 2027 is clear: sell out across roughly 11,000 square meters.
Part of a bigger European puzzle
Prowinter 2026 also attracted representatives from the European Outdoor Group, who used the show to promote the upcoming European Outdoor Week in Riva del Garda this May. Both Prowinter and the EOG work with MagNet as a partner, a link that underlines growing coordination rather than competition within the European trade show landscape. “We don’t claim to be the biggest,” Acherer says. “But it does the outdoor industry good to see that things are moving forward.”
A quiet confidence
By the end of Prowinter 2026, one thing was clear: Bolzano is not trying to replace the giants of the trade show world. Instead, it is building something different: Focused, human-scale and increasingly international. Or, as one exhibitor put it: “Not louder, but better.”
The next Prowinter will take place from Jan. 10–12, 2027 in Bolzano. The Pool Sci Italia Test Days will also be back again. In addition to trade show and testing, the region is also ideal for an extended stay: South Tyrol and the UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site of the Dolomites, neighboring Trentino and nearby Italian tourism hotspots such as Lake Garda, Verona, Florence, Venice, Lake Como and much more are not far away!
