Although it was only opened on 17 October last year, BMW Welt in Munich, Germany, has already become one of the city's top five tourist attractions. In fact, the millionth visitor has already passed through the facility, taking less than five months to exceed the 850,000 visitors expected in the first year.

It's no surprise that the BMW Group's huge branding exercise has been dubbed the 'ultimate customer experience'. Situated right next to the company headquarters in Munich, BMW Welt is so much more than a showroom, communication centre and distribution facility for cars - there are motorcycles there too - especially at this time of the year when thoughts turn to spring, summer and two-wheels!

Last weekend, the BMW Welt held a special 'Summer For the Senses' exhibition, designed to present the current range of BMW convertibles - especially the new 1 Series Cabriolet - and introduce people to the joys of open top motoring. This presented an obvious and ideal opportunity for BMW Motorrad to show that there is another way to feel the breeze on your face - by riding one of its latest motorcycles.

Presenting all the 'convertibles' together with the latest range of motorcycles was an inspired move by the BMW group, and more than 13,000 guests came from far and wide to see the current line-up, sit on the bikes and have their photograph taken. Many of the visitors were tourists, who arrived on the official 'sightseeing' buses to BMW Welt, and many went away with BMW Motorrad motorcycle and Rider Equipment brochures, and details of their favourite machines in the 2008 range.

The motorcycling highlight of the exhibition was the BMW HP2 Sport, as a similar version was being campaigned that same weekend in the gruelling Le Mans 24 Hour race in France with the factory BMW Motorrad Motorsport team. Visitors also showed great interest in the new "yellow" G 650 Xcountry, the F 800 GS and the F 650 GS models.

The famous German TV moderator Kathrin Müller-Hohenstein presented the new BMW 1 Series Cabrio on the stage of the big auditorium, where video footage of the new BMW G 450 X was also shown (while factory rider Joel Smets was racing the very same bike on the other side of the world in the Australian 4 Days Enduro). Other attractions included an M3 driving simulator (a real BMW M3 with an LCD screen instead of windscreen); Formula 1 simulators and driver training opportunities. The restaurant and the bistro in the BMW World offered a choice of special 'summer' food and drinks; kids were able to invent and construct their own car at the Junior Campus; while those who had seen enough motoring metal for the day could relax at the spa and wellness area, courtesy of the Maria Galland company.

As an exercise in customer communication and branding, the 'Summer for the Senses' exhibition at BMW Welt was a fantastic success. With the promise of warmer weather 'just around the corner', many of the visitors left BMW Welt with a better understanding of what life on two wheels could be like. And for those who have already ordered a new motorcycle as a result of visiting the BMW Welt, it could well be an Unstoppable summer.