New London Boat Show announcement

Originally posted by hurricane

   Since 2004 the London Boat Show has been held at ExCeL. After a bumper 210,000 visitors in the first year, attendances have been dwindling, with 80,000 less visitors in 2007. On the back of this a new Earls Court Boat Show has been announced.

There are obvious problems with Earls Court as a venue; street lamps had to be moved just to get the large superyachts down the London streets and the venue just wasn’t big enough for the number of exhibitors wanting to come, but ExCeL also has two main problems. 
First is the location. The Docklands area is having a massive amount of redevelopment, but is currently a building site. Driving up the A13 from the M25 is through an industrial wasteland and taking the Dockland Light Railway from Central London is often seriously overcrowded and not what people want to do after a day’s work.

The second major concern is the ExCeL centre itself. The building is just two giant halls with a long central dividing corridor. Masts cannot be up on any large yachts and there is no way to get an overview of the show from an elevated position. This is what people miss about Earls Court. This has changed the nature of the London Boat Show from a show to an exhibition. 
The announcement of a new Earls Court Boat Show is unsurprising since there have been grumblings within the industry about ExCeL for some time. Holding the show from 1-9 December 2007 is surely dooming this initiative to failure, with the Paris International Boat Show on from 1-10 December 2007. Exhibitors cannot be in two places at once and international companies will always stick with the established major show.

The British Marine Federation is quick to point at success stories from the London Boat Show. Increased sales figures boost confidence in the industry, but is this just the result of a growing economy and massive City bonuses? 
The major question in my mind is whether the industry needs two major domestic shows in a year. Exhibiting at ExCeL is a major expense for the industry both financially and in people’s time. The motor and cycling industries only have one each, both at ExCeL. Should the London Boat Show be canned altogether? Or alternatively should the Southampton Boat Show be canned and the London Boat Show held in September at ExCeL when outside docks could be used properly?

Time for the industry to do some serious thinking and decision making.