Excell vs Earls Court

[Koeketiene]

From YBW news section - Excell organisors slagging off new Earls Court show. And trying to justify the move a couple of years ago.

[ QUOTE ]


'Please do not forget the attendance was declining significantly before we
moved. In fact, if the show had remained at Earls Court an extension of the
decline would have seen approximately 85,000 people attend a cramped 2007
show. I say cramped, because we should all remember that it was becoming
impossible to get many boats in, especially with the new market ranges and
their increasing sizes. Without the move how could companies launch new
boats over 75ft at the London show?'



[/ QUOTE ]

Anyone on here in the market for a 75ft+ yacht? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

If that's what it's about - it's a "show" where the poor have to pay to watch the rich at play.

 

[No1_Moose]

but that's what most shows are all about anyway...

 

[hornblower]

The Excel show has no character - none of the club atmosphere of meeting old freinds - etc

 

[Emjaytoo]

Dissagree.

We go to Excel each year with the intention of looking round the show and then spend most of the time meeting up with old friends.

Where you choose to meet old friends is up to you Excel or Earls Court.

 

[DickB]

I wont bother with Excel next year but I might be tempted to take a look at Earls Court. Easier to get to by train...

 

[hornblower]

I also meet old freinds there - I merely refer to the atmosphere.

My freinds and I seem to be unanimous in wanting to meet in a warmer more conducive amosphere. I would not want to change my local pub for a modern theme one like The Slug & Lettuce type - it is an opinion, that's all.

 

[Norman_E]

I disagree as well. at this years's show I bumped in to several friends including two had flown over from from Turkey.
As regards Earls Court I await with interest to see how the organisers will get boats tied up outside, let alone have a Royal Navy frigate on display.

 

[Victorious]

The decline in numbers attending has little to do with the venue.
It is down to the type of exhibitors.... More and more big companies taking huge stands and bigger and bigger boats...... Meanwhile, the smaller and more interesting marine companys cannot afford even a tiny stand... thus the shows are all much the same... very expensive.. and dull (in a glitzy bling sorta way)
Earls court will not be much different from any other show... because of the stand stucture and pricing.... bugger all to do with where it is held
<sigh>

 

[hornblower]

It just goes to prove that Abe Lincoln was right:

You can please some of the people all of the time;
and all of the people some of the time;
but you cant please all of the people all of the time.

 

[blackbeard]

I think that it's likely I will in future go to Southampton.
If the somewhat limited amount of interest which was visible at the last Excel is now to be shared between two London shows, it's unlikely either will be worth attending.

 

[PeterGibbs]

As a marketing guy, the first port of call has to be the entry price - excessive, especially for the family. If the revived Earls Court show is predicated on the same entry prices, it too will suffer falloff, as before.

The nature of the interest in boat shows is changing. There are resiliant cores of foreign visitors, looking to purchase, and sailors keeping up with developments and bringing their technical questions to be answered. Most seem to find Southampton much better in this regard, for content and timing vs Excel. If Earls Court attracts back these exhibitors / teccy sources, sailors will make their way there, I believe.

Car boot markets and county shows have taken a lot of the "bucket and spade" visitor away and they will not come back - what they want to handle is no longer shown at any major show.

The space taken by huge motor boats that cannot be approached by the general visitor just sterilises a large part of the exhibitor floor. This is not new - the tussle between the sail/on water section, and the "how can we cross water without touching it" brigade is evident in the US too: they are mutually exclusive but show organisers with dollar receipts in their eyes do not want to limit their scope, to give more satisfaction to core on water visitors! Their problem!

The floating visitor "not committed to water sports but interested in a nice day out" has not been attracted to Excel because it gives off a trade show aura: I suspect there is nothing much left to try in the very antiseptic atmosphere there. With one exception - if there were a lot more on the water at Excel, I think this fraction of the visitor population could be enhanced. Southampton is of course the gold standard in this regard, and Earls Court too was pretty good - let's see if the organisers can replicate it in their new plans.

In any event, more competion and new ideas / reworked old ideas is to the advantage of all of us ! Bring it on I say...

PWG

 

[diva636]

hopefully the earls court boat show won't be dependent on taking numbers from excel, which aims for a different customer (we're talking city boys looking for a big boat and free-ticket riders who could just as easily have gone to legoland). the earls court boat show I remember had actual people from within the community who seem to have been forgotten at excel, and if they can be motivated to come back to London and give the earls court boat show another chance, then that would be a good thing for all.

 

[Major Catastrophe]

The best venue