UK hot tub exhibition in November
Andy Slater- 10 years ago
Organisers of the UK Pool & Spa Expo have announced a dramatic return to the Birmingham NEC for a second outing this year as part of radical plans to host the event’s fourth edition in November.
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fter originally arranging dates for the next exhibition to take place in February 2016, the New Events team behind the UK Pool & Spa Expo has now listened to feedback and created a new dateline for the event on November 22 to 24 in the NEC’s Pavilion Hall, which hosted the second outing of the exhibition last year after SPATEX had moved to the Ricoh Arena in Coventry.
There had been speculation earlier this year ahead of SPATEX that the two West Midlands-based exhibitions would merge or form an alliance in 2016, but once that plan was scuppered the UK Pool & Spa Expo team went into overdrive to consult with loyal exhibitors and visitors to formalise a strategy with suitable dates for the fourth edition to match their requirements in line with international schedules.
According to UK Pool & Spa Expo Event Director Claire Saunders, the overriding factor from the feedback was not to overlap with SPATEX and instead move in line with the global diary of wet leisure exhibitions.
“We’ve spent the last eight weeks since the third show ended talking with all our exhibitors and a number of our visitors about how we can improve the UK Pool & Spa Expo to make it work better for everyone,” divulged Claire.
“Previously the UK shows have almost overlapped, the industry was not benefitting, so to solve this problem we’ve listened to the industry and moved our event in line with the global diary of wet leisure industry trade shows.”
UK Pool & Spa Expo Marketing Manager Lauren King reported that on the strength of the success of the third edition of the UK Pool & Spa Expo, New Events Ltd will now be ramping up its exhibitor recruitment and promotional activities to deliver the fourth edition in November in time to service the market’s requirements for the following 2016 season.
Having sold over half of the floorspace already for the fourth exhibition, Lauren stressed that the organising team will now be focusing on attracting a high caliber of visitors to the event, as part of their existing reputation that they are keen to hold on to and build on.
“It’s important to us that everyone at our event receives and creates value,” said Lauren.
“We’re focused on bringing the industry decision makers together, that means appealing to the global CEO’s, directors and purchasing managers who are ready to buy or looking for new business.”
Now that the exhibition is firmly established, the UK Pool & Spa Expo team is looking to build on their growing band of loyal followers, with many international companies supporting the event each year.
This year saw the return of a number of leading hot tub brands for the third consecutive appearance including Alps Spas, Artesian Spas, Viking Spas, Vita Spa and Wellis, while L.A Spas and Marquis made their second outings.
Among this year’s high-profile ‘new recruits’ were Villeroy & Boch and Softub UK; while Elite Spas, promoting a new association with USA manufacturer Aspen Spas, also joined the ranks of exhibitors making their debuts that also included Aqua Spa Supplies and Doric Marketing.
Claire Saunders revealed that continuing the exhibition’s residency at the NEC has been a very conscious decision by everyone involved in the organising process. She declared that with the new Resort World www.resortsworldbirmingham.co.uk opening this year, the appeal to visitors and the networking opportunities that are so important at these events will expand exponentially.
With close proximity to an international airport, train station and motorway network, Claire also declared that the decision is clearly obvious why the exhibition will return to the NEC in order to build on excellent reviews from the hat-trick of previous outings.
“This is a small industry,” said Claire; “We’re proud to be free of any ties and enjoy working with and listening to the whole of the wet leisure sector and bringing them a first class event reinforced by excellent reviews and a strong team that is reactive to their customer’s feedback.
“We will leave the politics to those who enjoy it.”
If you are requiring exhibition stand space at the fourth edition of the UK Pool & Spa Expo at the Birmingham NEC in November then contact the New Events organising team on +44 (0) 1483 420 229.
