Did you hear?… UK's OIA moves show back to late September

Retreating from its November announcement that it would move its annual Go Outdoors trade show to early August, the United Kingdom’s Outdoor Industries Association today announced it has moved the dates back to late September. The early August date, which was also in conflict with the ispo trade show in Germany, had been set based on consultation with exhibitors, retailers and other visitors, the OIA had announced in the fall. But the group held a special meeting on Feb. 12 and reversed its decision, going with Sept. 22-24, still at the Harrogate International Centre. “The meeting discussed substantial concerns raised both by manufacturers and retailers to the decision announced last year to move to early August dates from 2002 and considered the results of a telephone survey of previous visitors to the show conducted during the first week of February,” the OIA said in a statement. Director Roger Southcott told SNEWS®: “The results of the research showed that up to 44 percent of visitors who had attended previous shows would not come in August and the OIA Council could not justify running the event at that time of year. We may have attracted the exhibitors, but without enough visitors the show would have not been very successful.” The OIA has made a three-year commitment to the Harrogate International Centre, where it will now be through 2004.