Organisers of Excursions, the one day travel trade show that took place on Saturday 28 January at Alexandra Palace in north London, says the event is showing “continued growth”.
Now in its 41st year, the show is seen by many in the industry as giving an indication of the health of both the industry, and of trade shows in general.
Organiser, Tourism South East, says this year’s show attracted around 300 exhibitors from the UK, Ireland and continental Europe and welcomed around 1,150 visitors.
Anna Wilson-Barnes, travel trade marketing manager at Tourism South East, says; “Excursions continues to show steady growth. Remarkably, around 48% of visitors say they were attending the show for the first time, keen to discover what exhibitors had to offer and clearly demonstrating that there is still a huge need for conducting business face-to-face, even in a digital age. There was a great buzz about this year’s show with packed aisles, new contacts being made and business conducted at a high level. We were also very pleased to see so many new and younger visitors, changing some of the long held preconceptions about group travel being just for an older market. We look forward to welcoming everyone back in 2018.”
Tourism South East chief executive Nigel Smith says: “We’ve consistently sustained visitor numbers over the years. We’ve achieved this by combining database marketing and traditional advertising with free coach transfers, as well as arranging fam trips and bringing in VIP coaches. All added value ways of getting trade visitors to attend. For the first time, AGTO, the Association of Group Travel Organisers, also held its AGM at the show.”
The show is organised by Tourism South East in partnership with London & Partners and Group Leisure magazine.
Excursions 2018 will take place on Saturday 27 January.
For more information, go to www.excursionsshow.com, follow @excursionsshow or visit the show’s Facebook page at ‘Excursions: Group Travel Trade Exhibition’.
To see these photos at a higher resolution, go to www.facebook.com/stuartrendertourism
