Leisure Industry Week a great success |
| Posted by Nina (nina) on Oct 21 2011 |
Visitors encouraged to ‘have a go’ at Leisure Industry Week 2011
Leisure Industry Week (LIW) 2011 is over for another year and the three days at Birmingham’s NEC were filled with a variety of treats for visitors who had travelled from across the UK for this annual trade event. The Play & Attractions section delivered a variety of dynamic demonstration areas, a range of industry leading exhibitors and a comprehensive education programme.
The Innovative Leisure offering was particularly impressive. Having exhibited for more than 11 years at the show, the seasoned Innovative team brought with them a fully operational high ropes course and a DigiWall climbing attraction, which can be seen at many attractions across England, including Kidzworld at Cornish Market World and Kent’s Hop Farm. Both were busy throughout, with visitors keen to have a go. When asked to comment on the success of LIW 2011 for them, Innovative Leisure’s Managing Director, Phil Pickersgill stated:
“We’d love to be back next year. We’re a big supporter of LIW and it’s always worked for us because we deal with a lot of different sectors, I can’t think of another show in the UK or Europe that brings them all together in one place.”
Another highlight proved to be first time exhibitor Russell Play’s, Magical Fairy Land play experience, a purpose-built fantastical live play feature which can be tailored to fit into a variety of attractions venues. This feature provided a great visual spectacle and offered visitors the chance to interact with the product in a tangible way. Innovative Leisure and Russell Play were by no means the only Play & Attractions exhibitors to deliver interactive demonstrations and ‘have a go’ opportunities on their stands. Attendees were also able to skate on a synthetic ice rink (Leisure Skate Ltd), meet Cartoon Network favourite, Ben 10’sHumungasaur, and climb aboard Taylor Design and Play’s Formula One cars.
As promised by the organisers UBM, the Education Village catered for a broad leisure industry audience. The Countryside Attractions Forum, powered by NFAN, included a panel debate on maximising the potential of a site’s retail offering, with advice and ideas from operators and retail specialists including Rob Ward, founder of MyFoodTrader.com and FoodMarketingNetwork.com, Duncan Phillips, DP Associates & 360 Play and Stuart Beare of Tulley’s Farm. The second session outlined successful techniques for attractions marketing with contributions from Anita Wadell from Agility Marketing and Joseph Manning and Ray Smith from Old MacDonald’s Farm.
Next year’s LIW will take place from the 18th to the 20th of September 2012. Information on the content, as well as registration details for visitors will be uploaded to the website next year. You can also follow LIW news via Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Last changed: Nov 30 2011 at 11:08 PM
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