To get properly started, here is a little advice from the opti team: It’s probably best to save the list on one‘s mobile phone to have it handy at opti and use it to explore the four exhibition halls and their 330 exhibitors at the Munich fairgrounds. In addition to the exhibitors’ innovations, there is also an impressive supporting program to discover! With this bucket list, visitors will be even better prepared when arriving at the Munich fairgrounds on Friday, 31 January 2025 (opti runs until Sunday, 2 February 2025).
Tip 1: Networking, networking, networking
Above all, opti is a networking trade fair for the industry. So: meet people, make new contacts, find experts, bring your employees, and motivate them! Contact your most important suppliers in advance (check for appointments via opti CONNECT), but also allow time for spontaneous conversations, for example in the YES Lounge (Hall C1), at the opti BOX BAR (Hall C2), at the opti RUNWAY BAR (Hall C3) … or next door at one of the four hubs of the brand new opti HUB ARENA! Extra tip: Be sure to get one of the highly coveted appointments for an opti SOCIAL MEDIA CONSULTING HOUR – it’s worth booking in good time via the website!
Tip 2: Hunting down what’s red hot new
Basically, of course, everything‘s new at opti – yet it is always worth to start one’s very own truffle hunt for novelties amongst industry partners and start-ups like opti BOXES (Hall C2) for frames or at opti VISIONARY (Hall C3) for the non-frame sector. Make and implement good resolutions for opti 2025: for instance, find at least three new suppliers, while as well allowing enough time to listen to expert talks at the opti MYOPIA HUB, to get informed about current sustainability topics at the opti SUSTAINABILITY HUB and learn from talks and panel discussions on future-oriented topics and trends at the new opti FUTURE VISION HUB. Obviously, the same applies to all halls: let yourself be inspired as you wander from C1 to C4 and back.
Tip 3: TOMORROW VISION – Contact lenses are the future of vision
opti, together with nine well-known contact lens manufacturers, is jointly backing a new concept that will show opticians the multiple opportunities offered by contact lenses. In the TOMORROW VISION area, covering almost 170 square meters in Hall C4, Alcon, Bausch + Lomb, CooperVision, HECHT, Hetych, Menicon, MPG&E, SwissLens and Wöhlk are putting the spotlight firmly on contact lenses. All further information can be found here: www.opti.de/en/messe/highlights/tomorrow-vision
New: The concept of opti HUB ARENA with four hubs (stand C3.575)
reflecting subjects and addressing target groups that matter to the industry. So make sure to make more than one stop at the opti HUB ARENA:
Tip 4: opti MYOPIA HUB supported by HOYA & EssilorLuxottica
The opti MYOPIA HUB is the central platform for knowledge transfer, inspiration and exchange around evidence-based myopia management. Entrepreneurs in ophthalmic optics should also involve their employees because the opti MYOPIA HUB presents practical solutions, scientifically sound approaches, and successes already achieved in practice – always aiming to provide directly applicable impulses for their own professional lives. www.opti.de/en/messe/highlights/opti-myopia-hub
Tip 5: opti FUTURE VISION HUB – more than just a glimpse into the future!
This platform brings together visionaries – which we are sure you won’t want to miss: new ideas are negotiated here, there are plenty of opportunities for networking and this is where the future of the optical industry begins. www.opti.de/en/messe/highlights/opti-future-vision-hub
Tip 6: opti NEXT GENERATION HUB – the lounge for the optical – surprise – next generation.
The point of contact for apprentices, students, and the next generation of opticians in general. What happens there? For example, communication coaching, speed dating sessions for apprentices and students to exchange ideas, and speed dating for young people looking for companies and the next generation – the latter via online registration. And of course, don’t miss out on the competition sponsored by Rodenstock.
www.opti.de/en/messe/highlights/opti-next-generation-hub/
opti CAMPUS, incredibly conveniently placed next to opti NEXT GENERATION HUB, features nine optical academies and universities offering information and insights about themselves: www.opti.de/en/messe/highlights/opti-campus/
Tip 7: opti SUSTAINABILITY HUB supported by FOCUS
Sustainability is becoming ever more important in both our private and professional lives. So it will be addressed and discussed at opti 2025. Simply pick from the program the points relevant for you and your company and benefit from the knowledge shared. www.opti.de/en/messe/highlights/opti-sustainability-hub/
Design and current eyewear trends. In addition to the already fully booked eyewear tours with trend expert Selin Olmsted from New York, two wards show where the design journey is headed when it comes to frames:
Tip 8: opti FRAME STAR – The Audience Award
For the first time, opti is presenting an audience award for the most popular frame – so be sure to vote right away. Where? At stand C1.170, visitors simply use their mobile phones to vote for one of the 50 frames displayed. The frame with the most votes will be honored on opti Sunday at 3 p.m. at the winner’s stand. www.opti.de/en/messe/highlights/opti-frame-star-the-audience-award/
Tip 9: opti BOX AWARD
For the fifth time, so already quite a tradition, this coveted trophy will be awarded to a frame start-up exhibiting at opti BOXEN. Where will it be awarded? At the new opti FUTURE VISION HUB (stand C3.575). So it’s best to block the calendar now: opti Saturday, 1 February, at 3 p.m.
Tip 10: opti ROLLING TRUTH
What the heck is this? A real couch situated in the north-west entrance area, on which the opti social media team interviews visitors and exhibitors about important and, tongue-in-cheek, not-so-important topics related to opti and ophthalmic issues – always with the aim of telling the hard, unvarnished truth. Special feature: the couch will also be rolling through all four opti halls. So keep your eyes open and come on board or onto the couch spontaneously.
Bonus tip: opti PARTY, Friday, 31 January, starting 7 p.m.
There’s no reason you can’t party, have fun, and relax all at the same time. That’s what the opti PARTY is for. It runs until 10 p.m. and features not so demure DJ sounds that will have you dancing the evening away. Make sure you arrive on time, as the opti PARTY is highly popular! And the following evening, i.e. Saturday, don’t miss any of the numerous creative stand parties. – they too are simply magic!
Last but definitely not least: after opti is before opti, so make sure to block your calendar for opti 2026, 16 – 18 January 2026
About opti
opti is the international trade show for optics & design which takes place annually as the industry kick-off in January in Munich. This trade show and networking events offer trade visitors the complete spectrum of ophthalmic products, from spectacle frames and lenses, contact lenses, refraction, diagnosis, and low vision to shopfitting and technical equipment. The early trade show date in the optical year makes opti the ideal location for product premières of international market leaders and start-ups alike. opti was first held in 1998.
