Sea Otter Europe 2023; a CIN show review
Fresh from our time in Girona, CIN has had a few days to reflect upon Sea Otter Europe 2023. Here we put some thoughts onto paper, outlining our experiences in Girona, highlighting why attending Sea Otter Europe is fast becoming an essential for the industry, and a truly unique experience for consumers.
Lets start with the LOCATION.
- A city location blessed with incredible riding, on and off road
- This makes Girona a perfect host for one of the largest demo bike fleets at any trade show.
- An outdoor format supporting racing and expo elements, made possible by great weather.
Over the 3 days of the festival, nearly 4,000 rides were held, testing bicycle models across all the segments (MTB, gravel, road and those designed to get around the city).
Straight away we can see how the location works for both industry and consumers – ‘bikes ridden leads to bikes bought’, in a way that ‘bikes looked at’ simply doesn’t. With this in mind, we’ll be exploring the role of the demo bike, its impact on the customer experience, and making the sale, in more detail as part of a future feature.
The show format
Blending consumer and industry elements is always a challenge. Location and venue play a big role in making one, both, or neither, elements successful. As Sea Otter Europe grows, building on its success – 405 brands, more than 250 stands, 65,000 attendees in 2023, from 112 countries – new trade elements are being added to the show.
2023 saw the first feature of Sea Otter Europe Connect – a series of panel discussions taking place inside the Pavelló Girona-Fontajau arena – expanding the opportunity for the industry to engage with, and at, Sea Otter Europe.
Sea Otter Europe Connect was created in response to the industry’s constantly evolving needs, providing a forum from which to explore the future, preferences and inclinations of an ever-changing market, and at the same time, to be a network for professionals in the sector. 2023 saw speakers and panellists from Shimano, Canyon, Cycling Industries Europe, CONEBI, AMBE, and Tradeinn, amongst a host of others – a blend of speakers representing mobility advocacy, industry association, retail business, and industry brands.
Industry networking
On the Thursday evening before Sea Otter Europe opened, CIN was invited to attend 3 different pre-show, industry focused, events. We took part in a fourth event, hosted by Eat Sleep Cycle team, Lee Comerford and Louise Laker – attended by brands and distributors – What is a bike shop in 2023? Is Retail enough?
The opportunity to meet with the wider industry is strong, and many are keen to explore new ways to make business happen. My conversation with Cristobal Perez, which followed on from his recent ‘The Big Questions’ CIN interview, was all the more engaging for it happening in person, at Sea Otter Europe. Watch out for a future series feature in CIN magazine, exploring a host of business ideas, sharing actionable insights, for organisations across the industry, from brand to retailer.
Audience observations
Subjectively ( I don’t yet have data to back this up), the number of women and girls at the show was extremely impressive to see. I can say, without much doubt, that I’ve never been to a UK show, be it trade or public, that had anywhere near the number of female attendees and participants.
For distributors, brands, and retailers, this is also extremely valuable. Our industry has well documented struggles with diversity and inclusivity. The inability to communicate to, engage, and grow, a female customer base is a major barrier that needs to be engaged with and successfully addressed. Here, the ‘in person’ experience, being at the show, is something to take inspiration from, as well as explore, with host market businesses, and event attendees.
Sea Otter Europe beyond 2023
It’s easy to see why, for many, Sea Otter Europe has become an integral part of the cycling calendar, an event around which many good things are happening. CIN will be there in 2024, that’s for sure.
See you there?
