41st Busworld in Kortrijk Biggest Ever

The 41st edition of Busworld (23^rd in Kortrijk) was kicked off by the president of Busworld, Redgy Deschacht with some impressive news. This year´s Busworld was the biggest ever with 411 exhibitors out of which 59 were manufacturers. Busworld 2015 had more visitors every day than in 2013 and broke all existing records. Indeed, Kortrijk once again confirmed its reputation as the number-one fair for buses and coaches globally.

The opening days also saw the award ceremonies for both IRU Smart Awards and ECW Awards. The winners of the Smart Awards can be found here. For the ECW Awards for bus and coach the Grand Award Coach 2015 went to Daimler Buses Setra Topclass S 516. You can read more about the winner and the other label winners here.

During the Busworld week IRU co-organised the Busworld Academy seminars between 16 and 21 of October. The range of topics varied from discussion about smart textiles to an intensive IRU-Busworld Academy Joint Round Table with the theme “Further improving the image of the bus and coach sector”. During the day there were various insights about the current situation and the road ahead. For instance, during his opening speech, IRU president Mr. Janusz Lancy highlighted that improving the image is not purely a question of image and perception. There are also a lot of other external factors at play, including political decisions and unadjusted legislation. Mr Jan Deman, manager of Busworld Academy, supported the view by stressing that the focus should not be purely on the image. Innovations in technology, innovative bus concepts and the changing travel and consumer behaviour should also be taken into account.

This year IRU also had a stand throughout the whole exhibition. The stand was a great opportunity to showcase IRU activities in the fields of projects and training. In addition it was the venue for events with a variety of interesting speakers covering a range of pertinent topics. Speakers included heads of associations from USA, Mexico, India and Morocco and proved to be very popular amongst the exhibition visitors and other exhibitors.

Besides debates, round tables and stands, a traditional Job Day was organised during Busworld. This year twelve companies from the Flanders region were introduced to 150 potential drivers.

All in all Busworld was a resounding success. The next Busworld will take place in Istanbul, Turkey between 14 – 17 April 2016, which after Busworld moves to China and to Russia in October 2016.