ITALIAN EXHIBITION GROUP GOES ACTIVE

Rimini, 2 February 2017 – The 2017 IEG Italian Exhibition Group SpA calendar has a decidedly ´active´ feel to it. IEG, the second biggest Italian trade fair company in terms of turnover, is the new entity formed by the merger between Rimini Fiera and Fiera di Vicenza and its 63 scheduled shows in 2017 will include a high-profile programme of sporting events.
Sporting events of the highest calibre such as, from 16 to 19 February, the PosteMobile Final Eight 2017 (www.legabasket.it) which will see top-quality serie A basketball come to Rimini. A genuine media triumph with seven matches televised live on RAI for an audience of millions, a shot of adrenaline at the trade fair with the fans of the eight top teams in attendance, and sports professionals and enthusiasts welcomed and provided with accommodation all over the city.

´IEG - explains Managing Director Corrado Facco - wants to act as a conduit for the incredible sporting culture that exists in the areas in which it operates, stoking passion and professional expertise through the organisation of top-class events. An enthusiasm for sport clearly outlined by Istat whose survey shows that in terms of Italian macro regions, more people practice a sport in the North-East (almost 40%) than anywhere else in the country. Reconciling this Ôactive´ dimension with our activities was possible thanks to three key elements: the desire and ability to identify and organise sporting events, also major ones; the availability of modern, flexible facilities in Rimini and Vicenza that can also host innovative events, even becoming genuine indoor sports arenas in the case of the basketball Final Eight; local catchment areas traditionally associated with the philosophy of healthy living and passion´.

And IEG´s interest in the world of sport doesn´t stop at basketball.
On 4 and 5 February IEG will be hosting the Italian Challenge at the Rimini venue, an international event that will see hundreds of registered archers, including many champions, battle it out head-to-head. The event forms part of the World Archery calendar (www.fitarco-italia.org).
Still in Rimini, and between 23 June and 2 July it will be the turn of Ginnastica in Festa: 13,000 registered competitors are expected over the ten days of competition, as well as tens of thousands of partners. The competitive event is organised by Esatour Sport Events and ASD Pesaro Gym in collaboration with the FGI, the Italian gymnastics federation (www.ginnasticainfestarimini.it).
Following on from last year´s record event with participants from 42 nations, from 10 July the Rimini venue will be hosting Sportdance 2017, the dancesport championships organised in collaboration with FIDS, the Italian dancesport federation. Eight days and tens of thousands of partners and dancers of all ages, from children to senior citizens, in a triumph of sport, colour and passion (www.riminisportdance.it).

Genuine sporting events for IEG but also shows that place important emphasis on physical activity, wellbeing and passion, such as the major RiminiWellness show, from 1 to 4 June, which will bring fitness fanatics to the Rimini venue and the Romagna coast for what is by far and away the most hotly-anticipated event in Italy among wellness and physical exercise enthusiasts. RiminiWellness marks the start of the summer, an explosion of movement and passion in the heart of the Ôwellness valley´, with the sports areas flanked by the production chain of businesses that work in the sector (www.riminiwellness.com).

´Physical activity - explains Corrado Facco - is a macrotrend on the domestic and international market and IEG has the necessary expertise to transform it into successful b2b and b2c events. Events that also act as a driver for the local economy. The results are reflected in the attendance figures for our active events which in 2016 registered over 700,000 visitors and had an incredible knock-on effect on the local communities´.

A theme that also takes in the world of hunting and shooting sports with the Hit Show scheduled to take place at the Vicenza venue between 11 and 13 February. An unmissable show for the lovers of these pastimes, this international event is also a business platform for the civilian and sports arms sectors, particularly shooting, a sector in which Italy is world leader (www.hit-show.com).
The Vicenza venue will also be hosting the Pescare Show (25-27 February 2017) dedicated to recreational fishing, an increasingly popular event thanks also to the involvement of the main trade associations, sports federations and fishing schools, and a magnet for enthusiasts of different sports techniques and specialities, from spin fishing to fly fishing and match fishing, from carp fishing to sea fishing, and through to surf casting and big game fishing (www.pescareshow.it).
In April (21-23 at the Rimini venue) IEG will start its engines for the RiminiOffRoad Show, a spectacular new event in the Halls and external areas with the biggest names from the international car and motorbike industry and the off road sector. The show will encompass everything from the safety of SUVs and 4×4 saloons, to recreational sports cars, vehicles suitable for extreme terrain and hills, and quads, motorbikes and MTBs, covering the entire territory, the beach included (www.riminioffroad.it).
IEG´s year closes on 9-10 December with the MondoMotori Show, the Vicenza car, motorbike and bicycle event with a large outdoor area for demonstrations and live shows (www.mondomotorishow.it).

´We are always at work - concludes Facco - striving to propose increasingly exciting events in the active panorama. I am pleased to announce that we will soon be unveiling a new project that will delight professionals and enthusiasts in the autumn of 2017´.



PRESS CONTACT ITALIAN EXHIBITION GROUP SPA
Elisabetta Vitali - head of national media & corporate communication mediarimini@iegexpo.it
Patrizia Rovaris - head of international media & corporate communication mediavicenza@iegexpo.it
www.iegexpo.it


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