“Vacation is the Germans’ favorite child. And their favorite travel country is Germany,” says Reinhard Pfeiffer, Managing Director of Messe München, when announcing this year’s Free travel and leisure trade fair. His enthusiasm is great: “For holidays in Germany, Bavaria is the most popular, and in Bavaria then Upper Bavaria.” And Upper Bavaria is the official partner region of Free this year.
From February 14th to 18th, visitors to the trade fair can find out about the latest trends in camping, cycling, water sports and other outdoor activities from around 1,000 exhibitors. Many offers can also be tested at the stand. In the bicycle hall, for example, there will be three courses, one for children’s bikes, one for mountain bikes and one for driving safety training. The General German Bicycle Club (ADFC) oversees the driving safety course. The aim is to offer older people with e-bikes the opportunity to get to know their limits on the test track instead of on the road, explains ADFC Bayern boss Petra Husemann-Roew.
E-bikes are one trend in the leisure sector, stand-up paddling is another. In order to be able to try out the latest boards, there will be an extra pool at the Free. A second water basin will be dedicated to pack rafting, whitewater rafting in handy backpack boats. “Visitors don’t have to bring swimming trunks with them, most of them stay dry during the test drive. But as a precaution, we have towels up our sleeve,” says an organizer.
The focus of this free is the partner region of Upper Bavaria. Tourism in this country is booming, everyone knows the big sights, according to an organizer. The slogan “Secret Places” is now intended to draw more attention to less popular excursion destinations. Many of these places can be easily reached by local transport, in keeping with another trend: sustainability.
A day ticket for the Free usually costs twelve euros on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and 15 euros from Friday to Sunday. The organizers want to control the expected crowds with cheaper entry prices from 3 p.m.