The game of trade-show leapfrog continues.
On Thursday, organizers for Europe’s OutDoor show in Friedrichshafen, Germany said they will move up the date of the event by nearly a month to mid- June starting in 2017.
The decision echoes earlier moves by Outdoor Retailer and the SIA Snow Show here in the United States to move their show dates up by several weeks, or in the case of SIA, by nearly two months.
Messe Friedrichshafen and the European Outdoor Group (EOG) confirmed new dates for OutDoor in 2017 (June, 18-21) and 2018 (June 17-20), which also shift the show dates to a Sunday to Wednesday schedule. This year’s 2016 OutDoor will takes place as planned from Wednesday to Saturday, July 13 to 16.
“The EOG has a dedicated working group that is tasked with looking at how we can develop trade fair activities for the benefit of the whole industry, EOG General Secretary Mark Held said. “Dates are of course a tricky issue, but the group, which is composed of both brand and retail members, felt that by bringing them forward, we could more accurately reflect what’s happening in our sector.”
As for the day-of-the-week shift, he added: “By starting the show on a Sunday, we would provide the perfect opportunity for independent retailers to join the show without having to sacrifice a day’s trading. This was then discussed and agreed by the membership of the EOG at the Annual Assembly in January.”
Show organizers said they are responding to earlier order dates.
“The most obvious question I have been asked so far, is whether this will simply move order dates forward? The answer to that is a simple ‘no’ and we expect that order dates will remain as they are now,” Held said.
Retailers aren’t so sure, and if the past is any indication, vendor order dates will slowly begin to creep up again.
