National Boat Caravan & Outdoor Show Welcomes Over 100,000 Visitors

The 47th National Boat, Caravan & Outdoor Show kicked off 2008 in style with a record breaking 110,331 people (95,638 visitors and 14,693 exhibitors*) looking for new products to enhance their outdoor pursuits. The figures show a huge 13% increase in the number of visitors even with a move from nine days to six days. (*Subject to ABC audit)

The huge success was largely due to the show’s 30% increase in floor space combined with a new layout, fantastic features and the excellent visitor experience on offer. This resulted  in a high number of sales for exhibitors with the majority of visitors spending up to £100 each and staying for up to 6 hours at the show.

The expansion into six halls at the NEC, including the creation of the separate Boating & Marine Hall and Holidays & Park Homes Hall, meant that whatever your outdoor passion, the show offered plenty of choice for everyone. The Marina and the Inland Waterways Village were the busiest features making plenty of big money sales and welcomed both dedicated boaters grateful of a show catering to the Midlands as well as campers and caravanners looking to get off the mainland and on to the water.

Another key attraction unique to this year’s show was the impressive Camping & Caravanning Club ‘Great British Outdoors’ Amateur Photographic Exhibition that offered a visual treat for visitors.

The show very successfully promoted the benefits of camping, motorhoming, caravanning and boating, linked to a vast selection of destinations, camp sites and holiday parks. Plenty of young families enjoyed the various activities on offer throughout the show that included climbing, archery and canoeing.

The Caravan Club added a touch of glamour to opening day with Spooks star, Rupert Penry-Jones and their legendary Club Day on Friday was also a celeb-packed success with Shaun Willamson (Barry from Eastenders) singing for the visitors and Vicki Michelle (‘Allo ‘Allo) hosting a quiz with Linda Robson, Tim Vincent, Cheryl Baker, Mark Blundell and Sian Lloyd making up the teams.

John Skinner, one of the organisers of the National Boat Caravan & Outdoor Show, commented on the figures: “The new layout worked extremely well and attracted a significant increase in the number of models of motorhomes and caravans exhibiting over the previous year. Our unique ability to attract high numbers of existing and first time buyers of motorhomes, caravans and boats combined with the exciting changes we made, proved to be a winning formula in the extreme. This confirms once again the importance of the February show as a vital sales platform for the core products exhibiting. Plenty of new model launches took place, and it is widely accepted that the sales achieved may not be obtained elsewhere, making February an essential date on the UK and European sales map”    

The exhibitors deemed the show a huge success with the following comments:

Nick Page, Commercial Director of the Swift Group commented; “To get 13% more people to the show in only 6 days against the background of hardening market conditions was a tremendous result for the organisers. This show appeals to a different audience to the October Show and we came away very pleased with the sales of both our tourers and motorhomes,”

Simon Howard at Bailey said; “At the show we maintained the same sales volume as last year. Given the shorter format and the competitive nature of this year’s event this is a significant achievement and we have grown our market share as a result. The shorter format gave the event more impact and The Caravan Club Day on Friday was particularly successful. We look forward to attending next year.”

Jo Skinner, from Lunar Caravans said; “Lunar Caravans are this week celebrating again following another successful show after selling caravans and motorhomes with a value of more than £3 million. Lunar launched four new caravans and a new motorhome at the show, all of which received great reviews and sold well.”

Andy Craggs, Marketing Manager Brownhills said; “An excellent week for Brownhills with plenty of visitors attending our stands. We showcased our Carado range and the feedback we received from visitors more than exceeded our expectations. Thanks go out to the event organisers and we look forward to seeing you next year”

Mick Mills from Larson said, “Levels of interest were better than any previous years and we are looking at exhibiting again next year.”

A spokesperson from Princess Motor Yacht said; “We had another successful show and with a larger venue and exceptional high numbers of visitors we would like to thank all those who visited us on the Princess stand”.     

Mark da Costa, Managing Director for Sealine South Coast, said: “We are delighted with the turnout at the Birmingham Boat Show and we got off to a flying start. A lot of interest from experienced boat enthusiasts and general outdoor fans alike.  That’s the beauty of the show; it attracts new people into boating who are already fans of the outdoors.  An F42 was purchased by a client who came to Birmingham’s NEC all the way from Essex, thereby proving that the Birmingham Boat Show can compete against the best boat shows in the country and attract boat fans from far and wide.”

Chris Manners from Penton Hook Marine Sales said, “This years event was one of the more successful shows we have exhibited at within the last 12 months. The new six day format worked fantastically well and gave us six extremely busy days and an incredibly high quality of visitor”

The National Trust’s Sally Dingwall said,” We’ve doubled our membership target each day of the show! It’s just fabulous! A fantastic show!”

Nikki Nichol from The Caravan Club said; “The Caravan Club was pleased to see good attendance at the National Boat Caravan and Outdoor Show – the increase in visitor activities was very popular”

Rob Shaw from Yeomans said; “The show was really busy for us and the customers were really pleased that we could offer such a decent selection of tents. Larger family tents proved really popular for us this year. It’s really nice working at the National Boat Caravan and Outdoor Show as it has such a nice atmosphere and friendly visitors. We’d definitely look at taking an even bigger area next year as we really feel we could take our stand from strength to strength at this show.”

Sue Hollingshead, Marketing Manager of Tingdene said; “We found this years show really good and our stand generated a lot of interest throughout the week with a high volume of enquiries about the three homes which we were exhibiting. The separate hall for Park Homes & Holiday Homes was wonderful as it meant that all visitors who came into our hall were genuinely interested in our products and we felt this was a great focus for visitors.”