Kevin Ebener, son of co-founder Kurt Ebener and FIBO co-founder, Kurt Thelen / FIBO-Wachenfeld
Celebrating its 40th anniversary last week, FIBO – the world’s biggest trade show for health, fitness and wellness – welcomed 1200 exhibitors to Köln.
Taking place from 10 to 13 April, almost 155,000 visitors came from 129 countries to look at the latest innovations in fitness and wellness and attend the conferences which were packed with more than 80 presentations on key industry topics.
Founded in 1985 by bodybuilder, Kurt Thelen and judo champion, Volker Ebener, FIBO has come a long way since the first show, which had 79 exhibitors and an emphasis on body building. FIBO is an acronym of FItness and BOdybuilding and while expanding into so many different areas the show has stayed true to its bodybuilding roots by hosting competitions for both professionals and amateurs over the four days. As fitness racing grows in popularity, some of the exhibition halls were given over to a Hyrox competition which ran for all four days of the show.
Event director, Silke Frank, said FIBO 2025 set new standards with international policymakers using it to address key future topics. One example is Antoaneta Angelova-Krasteva, director for innovation, digital education and international co-operation at the European Commission, who spoke at the opening press conference, acknowledging the importance of sport and physical activity for health and business, economic growth, creating jobs and driving innovation through digital technologies.
Longevity and Hospitality Summit
As the fitness industry converges with the wellness industry, for the first time a Longevity and Hospitality Summit ran alongside the exhibition and conference programme.
Among the speakers were author and futurist, John Sanei, who spoke about the importance of meditation to upgrade the mind and how catastrophising about the future hardwires the brain with a negativity bias. He said longevity is not about supplements, but about state.
He pointed to transformative hospitality as a trend, where people “arrive as person A and leave as person B.”
Dr George Gatainos from Chenot Health and Wellness retreats spoke about the sleep rooms which have been designed to be fully insulated from noise, feature nature sounds to help people sleep and a sun on the ceiling to help them wake up naturally, as well as technology to measure sleep.
Sleep was also addressed by Mia Kyricos, CEO of Kyricos and Associates, who said the global sleep economy is worth $US538 billion including products such as sleep tech and supplements, while wellness tourism is worth US$830 billion.
Noise pollution, light exposure and uncomfortable temperature and bedding were the biggest crimes frequently committed by the hospitality industry, Kyricos said.
RX Female Award
For the third year, FIBO organisers, RX Germany, celebrated exceptional young women in the industry with the RX Female Award. HCM editor, Liz Terry, was one of the judges and the ceremony took place at the Ladies Lunch on 11 April.
This year’s category of Youngster went to Frances Weber, co-founder of Femnetc, which creates scientifically-backed sports and nutrition concepts tailored to the female menstrual cycle. The business was founded after she lost her period through intense training and then became an expert in cycle-based coaching.
Anna Martin-Niedecken, CEO and founder of Sphery AG, took the Role Model award. Her creation, ExerCube is a concept that combines gaming with physical and cognitive training to stimulate both the mind and body. It pushes technological boundaries, drives social change and inspires a new generation to rethink movement.
“The RX Female Award is more than just recognition – it’s a powerful statement for female empowerment in the fitness economy,” said Silke Frank. “In an ever-evolving industry, we need women who are bold, who set new standards, and who uplift others. That’s exactly what these winners represent.”
COO of Leejam, Shadan Alsagri, gave an inspirational talk about her journey to the top: being one of just three women in a company with 3,000 men when she joined, she was reliant on men for mentorship and now wants to be a role model for other women in Middle East.
Some takeaways
With such an enormous show and so much going on all at the same time, it felt impossible to even scratch the surface. The energy of the show was off the charts: so many inspiring speakers, so many enthusiastic exhibitors, so many fit people running around the Hyrox hall. A real showcase of innovation, purpose and the desire to do good.
As the fitness and wellness industries crossover around the theme of longevity, it’s a particularly exciting time, with so many opportunities. There was a sense of expanded thinking in the conference. Sanei talked about how microdosing can benefit the mind – this isn’t just hearsay but is backed up by studies from Harvard. With mental health on the rise as a topic this is something which needs to be explored.
In the Future Forum, clinical director of Pillar, Oli Patrick, said that while fitness is the foundation of wellbeing, there are so many other elements which impact health: quality of light and air, the environments we spend our time in, the people we are surrounded by and how we think about ourselves.
Financial health is also important. At EHFF, the day before FIBO, Lucien Engelen, CEO of TransformHealth said people who are in debt use more healthcare.
Going forward it’s going to be exciting to see how the industries respond to the opportunities and challenges which the global health situation currently poses. The momentum is certainly there.
HCM is FIBO’s global media partner as well as supporting the event in Köln, will also be supporting the launch of FIBO Saudi this October.
The European Commission’s Antoaneta Angelova-Krasteva spoke at the launch / FIBO-Wachenfeld
