Despite unusual travel restrictions that canceled thousands of flights throughout Europe, bauma 2010 organizers pronounced the event a success.

"bauma 2010 has marked a turnaround in international construction machinery industry, ushering in the hoped-for change in sentiment," said Ralf Wezel, Secretary-General of CECE, the Committee for European Construction Equipment. "The mood in the industry shows that in Europe the bottom of the cycle is now behind us. Confidence has returned."

More than 415,000 people from more than 200 countries attended, 17% fewer than the previous bauma in 2007. Organizers said 35% of attendees were from outside Germany.

A total of 3150 exhibitors from 53 countries attended; only 50 exhibitors who planned to attend did not. Sixty percent of exhibiting company were from outside of Germany; 5.9 million square feet of exhibit space was booked.

Already by the midway point of the event a number of exhibitors were reporting more sales than they had expected. "The good old times are coming back. The figures for sales taken at the fair far exceed our expectations. We reckon we will be able to match the volume we took at the record bauma in 2007. This is a clear signal that at Zeppelin-Cat, too, business is moving forward again after the difficult year of 2009," said Michael Heidemann, Managing Director of Zeppelin and CEO of Zeppelin Baumaschinen GmbH, Germany.

We had a lot of new business opportunities, some of which already resulted in unexpected sales, added Michikazu Okada, vice president of Hitachi Sumitomo Heavy Industries Construction Crane Co. of Japan:

A survey taken during the event showed almost half the exhibitors are expecting the economic situation to improve. "Because of the turnaround which bauma 2010 has ushered in for the sector worldwide, we are looking forward optimistically to the already fully booked bauma China 2010 in Shanghai. Interest in the new event bC India 2011 in Mumbai also has led to a considerable expansion in the space originally earmarked for the event," said Klaus Dittrich, chairman and CEO of event organizer Messe München GmbH. Bauma China takes be Nov. 23-26; bC India, Feb. 8-11, 2011.

The 30th bauma will take place in April 2013 in Munich.