What could be done to improve the LIBS?

V

vjmehra

Well-Known Member
Joined
3 Jul 2011
Messages
537
Visit site
There are plenty of people moaning about the show and a few who think its great still, but rather than just pointing out the bad bits, I thought it may be good to come up with a list of things we would like to see, who knows maybe the nice chaps at YBW could even pass this thread onto the organisers if we get some good suggestions and they may take it on board!

So to start off with some ideas:

Should there be a straight split, Southampton for Sail, London for Mobos?
Would increased discounts encourage people?
Would more 'on the water' boats encourage people?
Do people want more shows/dinghy trials etc?
Does combining the show with other products (outdoors type stuff, bikes etc.) encourage or discourage you?

Lets come up with some good ideas for next year's (and onwards) show!
 
vjmehra said:
There are plenty of people moaning about the show and a few who think its great still, but rather than just pointing out the bad bits, I thought it may be good to come up with a list of things we would like to see, who knows maybe the nice chaps at YBW could even pass this thread onto the organisers if we get some good suggestions and they may take it on board!

So to start off with some ideas:

Should there be a straight split, Southampton for Sail, London for Mobos?
Would increased discounts encourage people?
Would more 'on the water' boats encourage people?
Do people want more shows/dinghy trials etc?
Does combining the show with other products (outdoors type stuff, bikes etc.) encourage or discourage you?

Lets come up with some good ideas for next year's (and onwards) show!
Click to expand...

Excel seems the perfect venue, but its too hard to get to for most, so it's in the wrong place. We need 1 decent show to replace both. Southampton is spoiled by the bridges as the site is too small. I was in West London and finished at 3 on thursday, the day it closes late. I just couldn't be bothered to make the journey because of the journey home. Its only about 35 miles from my house but London is in the way. Nice show for kent and essex residents.
 
vjmehra said:
There are plenty of people moaning about the show and a few who think its great still, but rather than just pointing out the bad bits, I thought it may be good to come up with a list of things we would like to see, who knows maybe the nice chaps at YBW could even pass this thread onto the organisers if we get some good suggestions and they may take it on board!

So to start off with some ideas:

Should there be a straight split, Southampton for Sail, London for Mobos?
Would increased discounts encourage people?
Would more 'on the water' boats encourage people?
Do people want more shows/dinghy trials etc?
Does combining the show with other products (outdoors type stuff, bikes etc.) encourage or discourage you?

Lets come up with some good ideas for next year's (and onwards) show!
Click to expand...

If the organisers were on the ball they would already have read the various relevant threads. If they haven't that shows a lack of interest/initiative on their part, so what difference would YBW intervention have?

As for no mobos at Soton, that would reduce visitor numbers by maybe half, so the show would become unviable very quickly!

London in winter just doesn't provide the conditions to attract people to view boats outside on the water, neither does it show them off to their best advantage.

Combining other shows does IMHO have some merit, but what do you choose, cycling, motorbikes, caravans, climbing? the list could be endless. Very difficult.
 
"What could be done to improve the LIBS?"

Merge it with SIBS and run it in May or stick with Sept.

Instead of Boat show inside a shed in winter in middle of nowhere!
 
Firstly it is too early - the first full week back after Christmas is not a good time for a show - even a couple of weeks later would be better.

Secondly - need to get the price down - at least for the visitors, and probably exhibitors too - to get the number of visitors and exhibitors back to a sustainable level.
 
As somebody who has been involved with the Boat Show since the 1970's as both visitor and exhibitor, I think the answer is the show is past its sell by date. The market has changed and the show no longer has a significant purpose. Not only has the market for new boats shrunk, but the UK market is no longer the focus for the big builders. Contrast this with 30 years ago when the UK builders (and component manufacturers) were a dominant force, the show was a true international showcase. Its location in Earls Court was far more accessible, and for visitors also gave easy access to other attractions. This applied to both domestic and international visitors. Remember the queues of coaches dropping off club parties - wives taking the tube to the west end, husbands into the show and meeting up at the end of the day. For those staying over a huge range of accommodation and night life was accessible using the tube for transport.

From an exhibitor's point of view, once the power of the unions had been clipped it was an easy place to work and with a much wider choice of different kinds of stands and variety of attractions. Much lower costs and again greater choice for after hours activities.

Many of the things suggested to revitalise the show have been tried or proposed in previous surveys, but the reality is that cost for exhibitors is so high, they cannot justify being there. Even the companies that used to more than cover their costs by direct sales can no longer make it pay. The builders (except for a small number of MOBO builders) no longer sell large numbers of boats in the UK and most now use dealer networks so concentrate their sales effort closer to potential customers.

There are, of course pockets of the industry that still see value in the show as a suitable means of serving their market, but they are small and do not justify a show the size of the current one. So, as the big attractions pull out, the number of visitors falls, the level of business drops, more exhibitors withdraw and you end up with an unattractive show.
 
I think before you can work out how to improve something, you first have to establish what the purpose of the thing is.

What is the London Boat Show for?

Pete
 
Tranona said:
As somebody who has been involved with the Boat Show since the 1970's as both visitor and exhibitor, I think the answer is the show is past its sell by date. The market has changed and the show no longer has a significant purpose.
Click to expand...

I agree, there really is no need for boat shows these days.
 
vjmehra said:
Should there be a straight split, Southampton for Sail, London for Mobos?
Click to expand...

No. Definitely not. Many people, including me, are interested in various different types of boats. Simply dividing craft into power or sail would be crude and foolish.


vjmehra said:
Would increased discounts encourage people?
Click to expand...

An impractical and unenforceable suggestion.


vjmehra said:
Would more 'on the water' boats encourage people?
Click to expand...

Yes.


vjmehra said:
Do people want more shows/dinghy trials etc?
Click to expand...

Don't understand this point. Two national shows is apparently too many.


vjmehra said:
Does combining the show with other products (outdoors type stuff, bikes etc.) encourage or discourage you?
Click to expand...

Discourages me.



Face it - the London Show is at or beyond the end of its mainstream useful life.

So that we're not bemoaning the likely demise of SIBS in a few years time I'd like to see as much effort and support as possible going into the Southampton show.
 
pvb said:
I agree, there really is no need for boat shows these days.
Click to expand...

I disagree. I live within walking distance of three chanleries and an electronics retailer. But when I want to consider a big ticket item I like to speak to all the potential product reps at my own pace at a show. Then sit at home cogitating over a decision for some days, weeks, or months.

LIBS is dying a slow painful death because of a vicious cycle of reducing numbers of exhibitors hence reducing number of attendees and reducing exhibitors......etc. This has been driven by the high costs for both parties to attend and the ease of shopping online.
 
I've attended LIBS for the last 8 years, and also occasionally pop down to SIBS. To me it's all about making the most of the day/visit. I come down from the Midlands preferably by train (so I can have a beer or two) and not face the traffic. The reason for not attending this year was the removal of the other attached shows i.e. the outdoor show and bike show. Nothing of interest outside to see at LIBS, inside unless departing with £'000's nothing to spend your cash on that you couldn't do online or locally.

SIBS I thought was pretty good this year, sent the Uncle out on one of the Challenge boats, plenty of stuff to see, half decent food, actual stuff to buy and activities to engage with and worth a 3hr drive.

So, to my mind there needs to be enough there to encourage visitors that it's a full days experience- more than just one hall of £200K plus boats that if you were going to purchase you'd get yourself over to the factory/dealer and test drive anyway.

As a ballpark figure it costs me around £120.00 to get to, get in, eat/drink when visiting, so you do feel as though it's need to be worth the money. Being able to visit other shows as well, made up the day - and yes between us we have ordered/purchased new sails, electronics, safety kit etc previously, plus spending at the other shows.

I'd look at going next year if the other shows came back, but otherwise - not worth the effort for a day.
 
I think the location has a lot to do with the massive fall in visitor numbers. As someone who has been to many boat shows both as a visitor and work the London show started to lose it's attraction when it moved away from Earls Court.

There is simply no atmosphere at Excel, or sense of occasion which there used to be in Earls Court. At the end Earls Court couldn't cope with the demand for space so understood the need to change venue. I used to use the show as a venue to meet up with friends and have a drink and matter whilst also seeing ex work colleagues. This only lasted for two years in Excel. Now meet up elsewhere.

As stated this and the change in buying habits/internet research together with a declining market would indicate to me it is not worth keeping. Dusseldorf is THE european show to visit also held in January with many more exhibits that London ever had.
 
I don't really understand the hard to get to argument. Excel is right next to a DLR station.

I think the problem it faces is the internet. If you want to know about a product, a lot of people are going to choose google over attending a show.
 
mainsail1 said:
The reason the LBS will always struggle is Location, location, location. IMHO move it West or to the Midlands and it would be a winner.
Click to expand...

I suspect if that was the case they would have tried it, if the London market is what the organisers are after they are unlikely to travel to the Midlands or out west for an inland show, why bother when Southampton is on the water?
 
Fittster said:
I don't really understand the hard to get to argument. Excel is right next to a DLR station.
Click to expand...

However there is a big chunk of London between it and its main target market. From anywhere except the Kent and Essex coast it is at least an hour longer than Earls Court with little choice but to use one inconvenient (in relation to arrival points into London) rail line or sit in rush hour traffic at both ends of your day out.

Just as an example, from Poole a coach to Earls Court was just over 2 hours and £12 return. Excel is 2 hours train (£36) then an hour and 2 changes from Waterloo. When we used to organise our club outings the coach was an extra hour which meant leaving at 7 or losing an hour in the show, plus there was nowhere else to go if you did not want to spend the whole day at the show.
 
Excel is a serious pain to get to from Southern England, and has slightly less atmosphere than the moon; the last time I went I was being paid to go and it still seemed a trial !

If food at the show - yes, even Macdonalds or KFC type stuff - could be supplied cheaply not £10.00 a chip, and hotel rooms provided at normal human instead of London rip-off prices it might encourage a lot more people, maybe with a 3 day deal including the museums ?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top