First Scandinavian Outdoor Summit in Åre, Sweden - the “Davos” of the outdoor industry

PRESS RELEASE

The Scandinavian Outdoor Summit will gather the international outdoor industry in Åre, Sweden, 31 March – 1 April 2011. With a focus on the future, sustainable market communication, supply chain management and e-commerce, organizers Peak Innovation and Scandinavian Outdoor Group (SOG) are aiming to create Europe’s biggest and most visionary meeting place for future outdoor commerce. Guest speakers include outdoor authorities as Frederic Hufkens and Thomas Lipke.

The Scandinavian Outdoor Summit is the first meeting of its kind and around 300 international participants from outdoor and sport companies, investors, retailers, researchers and innovators will spend two intensive days in Åre, Sweden.

“The industry is gathering its forces. Scandinavia already has a strong position in the outdoor industry, but new markets like Asia and the US are becoming increasingly open, which means we must work even harder to remain at the leading edge,” says Jonas Hellentin, Head of Marketing and Communication for SOG and the Summit’s Director.

The keynote speakers are Mark Held, General Secretary of the European Outdoor Group (EOG), Frederic Hufkens, CEO of the A.S Adventure Group, Thomas Lipke, Managing Director and partner in Globetrotter Ausrüstung, as well as many more giants in the outdoor industry. Seminar topics during the summit include distribution, sustainability, brand building, production, trends, product development and ownership in the outdoor business.

Åre is one of the world’s foremost ski resorts and is a playground for many companies that work with equipment for an active lifestyle, from Peak Performance, Klättermusen and Trangia to up and coming brands like SKHOOP and Elevenate. Mid Sweden University in Östersund, an hour from Åre, educates young product developers in the outdoor industry alongside researchers in tourism and sports technology.

“We are aiming to create a “Davos” for the outdoor industry. The creative environment in Åre is attractive to new innovators in the outdoor industry and the opportunity to test gear on the doorstep, combined with product development in a research environment is absolutely unique.” says Thomas Ekström, Peak Innovation.

More information is available at www.outdoorsummit.se

For more information, please contact:

Jonas Hellentin, SOG, +46 70 294 98 19, jhellentin@scandinavianoutdoorgroup.com

Thomas Ekström, Peak Innovation, +4670 564 55 04, thomas.ekstrom@peakinnovation.se

About the organisers:

Scandinavian Outdoor Group is an association of Nordic brands within the outdoor industry. SOG includes 36 of the Nordic region’s most important outdoor businesses, from Thule to Isbjörn of Sweden. The group is a non-profit organisation.

Peak Innovation stimulates research and business development within sports, tourism and the outdoors. One aim is to establish Åre/Östersund as Europe’s biggest and most visionary meeting place for future commerce in the outdoor industry.