Cycle Show’s trade element to gain importance on industry calendar?

Upper Street Event’s Cycle Show will place further emphasis on its trade element going into 2018, the event organisers have told CI.N.

Promising dealers who don’t make the trip to Eurobike an enhanced offering for 2018, the show is steadily building steam on the UK calendar, having drawn 3,259 attendees this year, representing a 9% growth in industry interest year-on-year.

Portfolio Director Chris Holman told CI.N: “This year’s was a really good show and we’ve had record re-bookings of space, something that’s always been a good sign for health of a show. We’re assessing carefully the industry’s mood when it comes to trade shows, but we’re certain that we will enhance our trade element going forwards in order to give UK shops a genuine reason to head out.”

Discussing whether or not the show’s tie in with Velo Birmingham paid dividends in enhancing consumer visitor numbers, Holman said: “The early feedback from exhibitors was that we attracted a quality visitor and that with the extended Saturday opening hours that they managed to spend a decent amount of time with each. It’s difficult to tell the impact of Velo Birmingham, however, this was our busiest ever Saturday.”

In total, 29,436 consumer visitors arrived over the duration of the Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with 295 exhibitors reaping the benefits.

For the first time the show introduced a VIP ticket, made available to 1,000 visitors. These sold out and “delivered a different audience,” according to Holman.

Asked for a personal highlight of the exhibition, Holman pointed to Eddy Merckx’s appearance on stage, something which drew in one of the largest crowds of the 2018 exhibition and led Ned Boulting to question “how will we top this next year?”.

A further crowd pull came from the show’s own criterium, something Holman says was very well received in sign ups.

Stephen Morgan, The Cycle Show’s Event Director, added: “We are really proud to support the trade with yet another thriving show and 2017 giving us the busiest trade attendance for two years. We welcome all feedback from the companies who continue to make each year a success and look forward to welcoming even more brands, retailers and distributors in the future”.

There is an early bird booking rate for companies looking to display at the 2018 Cycle Show, which is accessible here.