maby
Well-Known Member
Whether or not the move to Excel was a mistake is a moot point, of course, since Earls Court is now a heap of rubble.
London boat show canned!
- Thread starter CLB
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laika
Well-Known Member
Doesn't Tesco hold the promise of struggling down the A27 to Bursledon Bridge with a rucksack and several bags full of provisions before casting off on adventure? Bit like coming back from a decent boat show...
flaming
Well-Known Member
Sorry, but this is factually incorrect. The attendance at Earls Court was dropping fast in the years leading up to the switch. The move to Excel actually reversed the decline and then slowed it. It was 4 years before the attendance at Excel was lower than the last year at Earls court.
But the real big boats, power and sail, got to Excel by sailing up the river and into the dock, then being craned out. The NEC cannot have those boats because they cannot travel by road. One thing you certainly can argue is that the UK show should have as its primary focus the promotion of the UK boat building industry. And the UK boat building industry is now building bigger and bigger boats than it was when the Show left Earls Court. A Show in the NEC would not serve their needs.
You can blame all sorts of factors for the decline of the Show, but the one thing that the stats just do not back up is blaming the venue.
maby
Well-Known Member
When did the RYA start running a separate Dinghy Show? I seem to remember that the Earls Court show included a lot of smaller boats that might have attracted a different audience to the current gigantic gin palaces that make up a lot of the current boat show. Is it the case that, by splitting off the entry level end of the market to another show, the RYA effectively pushed down the numbers and hurt the main show?
flaming
Well-Known Member
According to this.
http://www.rya.org.uk/newsevents/ne...ed-a-success-as-thousands-of-sailors-def.aspx
This year's Dinghy Show was the 67th, and had 8,000 people attend. Whilst a good figure for a dinghy show, it is not really significant compared to Excel attendance and an extra 8,000 people would have been very unlikley to tip the balance and allow the Show to survive.
So it seems somewhat doubtful that the RYA can really be held to blame...
RobF
Well-Known Member
Re: 2019 London Boat Show cancelled
Not to mention the 5* trust pilot reviews of SIBS in 2017 which were posted before the show had even started. A quick look at the authors made me wonder whether these reviews were written by people who were exhibiting there.
Not to mention the 5* trust pilot reviews of SIBS in 2017 which were posted before the show had even started. A quick look at the authors made me wonder whether these reviews were written by people who were exhibiting there.
CLB
Well-Known Member
Re: 2019 London Boat Show cancelled
I couldn't find SIBS on trust pilot. Care to post a link?
I couldn't find SIBS on trust pilot. Care to post a link?
lw395
Well-Known Member
Re: 2019 London Boat Show cancelled
Trustpilot tends to be for website reviews, so maybe it was reviewing the ticket sales website, which would have been relevant before the show?
Trustpilot tends to be for website reviews, so maybe it was reviewing the ticket sales website, which would have been relevant before the show?
savageseadog
Well-Known Member
Re: 2019 London Boat Show cancelled
I haven't been to a boat show of any kind for 30 boating years. I remember Earls Court, Southampton was better, went once but never felt the need to go again.
I haven't been to a boat show of any kind for 30 boating years. I remember Earls Court, Southampton was better, went once but never felt the need to go again.
maby
Well-Known Member
Re: 2019 London Boat Show cancelled
I will not travel any significant distance for a boat show unless I'm planning a significant purchase - which pretty much rules out Paris or Dusseldorf. We have gone to both London and Southampton for the last several years - London because it is reasonably close to us by car and Southampton because our boat was moored within walking distance of the show ground. With London cancelled and our boat moved round to Portsmouth, I doubt that we will be going to another show for quite a few years.
I will not travel any significant distance for a boat show unless I'm planning a significant purchase - which pretty much rules out Paris or Dusseldorf. We have gone to both London and Southampton for the last several years - London because it is reasonably close to us by car and Southampton because our boat was moored within walking distance of the show ground. With London cancelled and our boat moved round to Portsmouth, I doubt that we will be going to another show for quite a few years.
Heckler
Well-Known Member
Ok, I repeat, we went to the first two, too far, too souless, never went again, it was the venue!
Seajet
...
I agree, it was the venue which made it a ' never again ' for me, we used to love the atmosphere at Earls Court.
Not having any interesting sailing boats or chandleries at Excel really put the tin hat on it.
Not having any interesting sailing boats or chandleries at Excel really put the tin hat on it.
Resolution
Well-Known Member
I was at the first few Excel shows and my recollection is that there were lots and lots of sailing boats on show, perhaps even more than we had been able to cram in at EC. We just did not sell enough of them to pay our way. Flaming may have some numbers to support this?
Seajet
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I was at the, or one of, the first excel shows; I remember the Crabber 22 was new there; no chandlery stands in the traditional sense.
The only useful thing to me was comparing outboard weights as 4-strokes are a pain for my boat.
Yes there were some boats, but the show was tiny compared to Earls Court, which I went to every year from around 1976.
And the atmosphere at Excel was diabolical, like a poor shopping centre but less welcoming.
Sorry if it doesn't suit you and Flaming, but it was the venue which killed the show, then as less and less exhibitors were there, that was it.
The only useful thing to me was comparing outboard weights as 4-strokes are a pain for my boat.
Yes there were some boats, but the show was tiny compared to Earls Court, which I went to every year from around 1976.
And the atmosphere at Excel was diabolical, like a poor shopping centre but less welcoming.
Sorry if it doesn't suit you and Flaming, but it was the venue which killed the show, then as less and less exhibitors were there, that was it.
dom
Well-Known Member
Curious argument Seajet, logically and logistically Excel was a better location, by far.
Yet for whatever reason, proximity to pubs and restaurants, London buzz, intimate claggy atmosphere, the warrens' nest layout...
...you are probably right !!
john_morris_uk
Well-Known Member
This thread is a classic example of nostalgia being more powerful than facts.
In the face of the reality of the statistics of attendance and actually sales, cost of exhibiting and what the exhibitors actually get in return people still argue that moving from Earls Court killed the show.
I liked the EC shows but they were cramped and hot and sweaty sticky and just as easy or difficult to get to as Excel as far as I’m concerned. If the UK can only support one show then I hope SIBS is a success.
In the face of the reality of the statistics of attendance and actually sales, cost of exhibiting and what the exhibitors actually get in return people still argue that moving from Earls Court killed the show.
I liked the EC shows but they were cramped and hot and sweaty sticky and just as easy or difficult to get to as Excel as far as I’m concerned. If the UK can only support one show then I hope SIBS is a success.
Seajet
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Not much to do with nostagia, more like taste; if I go to a pub I want it to be old and like a museum, not a new nasty one on a modern estate !
As for John Morris' strange assumption that EC was as easy to get to as Excel, the latter was MUCH more hassle for me coming from West Sussex, which along with Hampshire happens to be probably the most concentrated area of sailing & boating folk in the UK, so another reason it was a poor choice.
I do agree I hope this is a boost for SIBS.
As for John Morris' strange assumption that EC was as easy to get to as Excel, the latter was MUCH more hassle for me coming from West Sussex, which along with Hampshire happens to be probably the most concentrated area of sailing & boating folk in the UK, so another reason it was a poor choice.
I do agree I hope this is a boost for SIBS.
john_morris_uk
Well-Known Member
Train tube and DLR wasn’t any more difficult that train and tube.
AntarcticPilot
Well-Known Member
I beg to differ. I find the transfer from Tube to DLR very inconvenient. Coming from Kings Cross the transfer at either Bank or at Tower Gateway is quite a long walk! Once on the DLR, everything is easy, but getting on the DLR is a bit of a pain. I may be spoilt - I lived in London for about 5 years, and my late wife was a native Londoner - but I was very disappointed with the poor connection between the DLR and the Tube network.
Retaining Earl's Court was never an option - the place was due for demolition anyway - and Excel was probably the best choice for a London based show. But where I think it went wrong was assuming that it was primarily a show for new boats, rather than a show for boat owners. When I go to a boat show, I may look at a few new boats for curiosity's sake, but I'm not in the market for a new boat, and I suspect that describes a majority here. If I was, I almost certainly wouldn't be looking at new boats. I do, however, have a boat for which I'm always on the lookout for new ideas and ways of doing things! And I always need things like clothing, rope, chandlery and so on. Earl's Court had MANY stalls at which you could browse for ideas and often come away with some neat little gadget that did just what you wanted. Excel didn't, and my reason for disliking Excel is as simple as that! SIBS does retain a good mix of new boats and gadget/chandlery stands, and so I still enjoy that show - though I spend far more time in the marquees than I do on the pontoons.
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flaming
Well-Known Member
But for every person who hated the venue there was someone else who preferred it. Believe me that NBS did a shed load of research and the venue was neutral at worst.
The simple fact is that it is the shrinking industry that has brought the end to London. That and the ever increasing costs of exhibiting, and I don't just mean the stand costs, but the hotel costs, food costs for staff in the evening and everything else.
If we, the boating public, were still buying boats at the same rate as we were in the 80s, and still buying kit at the same rate at shows, rather than online etc, as we were even comparatively recently, then the Show would have grown and be thriving.
