BTS 2015 = total bust?

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tridacna

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I was there for two days outta three. Lightest traffic I've ever seen at the show. >$30 for a daily ticket is really steep. I think that besides the Dutch Springs booth, I saw the most traffic waiting at the ladies restroom. Nothing special on display unless you include that new useless pony thing that attaches across your chest. Asked the young beauty on duty to explain how it worked and she asked me: "Would you like to see the tech version or the rec version". Hilarity ensued. A lot of regulars were missing, United Airlines and SB most prominent for me. Always easy to gauge the success of a trade show by counting the massage, home improvement, miracle gutters and jewelry booths. BTS had a good deal of all of these. They could have filled an aisle. Pity there were no attendees around to even fill one.

On Friday I did the PSI-PCI Tank Inspection course. I had heard that it's tough to listen to 9 straight hours of Dale Fox and Mark Gresham but it was actually quite entertaining and a lot of information well delivered.
 
One of our favorite times in yrs past
 
I tend to agree it was not the most inspiring. I wonder if with so much info being available and shared by internet, the role of the trade show might just now have the same significance. It is a pity to see some things flounder though.
 
Thanks for the FYI. Sad to hear this but reflects the reality of scuba not ever being a mainstream sport, or activity.
 
Thanks for the FYI. Sad to hear this but reflects the reality of scuba not ever being a mainstream sport, or activity.

I don't believe it represents the fact that diving is not a mainstream hobby. If that was the fact that in attendance by both vendors and divers would be low but stable. The fact that attendance seems to be declining would be suggestive of the fact that for all reasons mentioned in other forum threads diving does not seem to be attracting as many new participants as we would like. I also go by my initial comment that the Internet has allowed access to products and information that previously would need to be seen in person.




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For going to my 9th BTS in a row, I thought Friday night was busier than average. Saturday was busy as usual.

Sunday was light traffic... probably due to it being Palm Sunday? Otherwise, the exhibitor traffic was pretty much the same as its been in the past. Most exhibitors I spoke to were happy with the weekend as a whole, even though the foot traffic was light on Sunday.

I don't believe that low attendance on a popular travel weekend would be indicative of a declining industry. Palm Sunday through Easter is a busy time for parents of kids that have spring break and such, and many families go out of town. I don't think that the BTS organizers have that much flexibility with the scheduling dates to move their show around to find an optimum weekend based on school schedules for parents and such.

I think that calling it a total bust would be a gross exaggeration. I doubt you'd find too many exhibitors who felt that the weekend was a total bust.
 
We'll probably never find out from Ziggy (duh) but I have meetings scheduled with many vendors over the next couple of weeks. I'm sure that they'll report their own actual experiences. I also doubt that Easter had anything to do with absentee vendors. Those reasons are financial and not religious ones. Friday is always busy because of the free parties and management presence. After wading through booth after booth of travel companies, I realised that the Internet was a better resource that the 'tourism bureacrat' with zero SCUBA experience sent to NJ on a paid vacation. It's a pity because this used to be a really fun event in years past. Seminars were pretty good - well worth the price of admission for most.
 
First off, I was extremely disappointed by the low attendance, until Howard pointed out that it was Palm Sunday. Things become clearer then. Yes, Friday and Saturday were excellent.

Regarding internet, most folks who travel do not find their trips on the internet. Most wander into their shop/club and see where they are going. RJP showed me the numbers on this, and I believe him. They want to know where they are going with their shop, then get online to research the destination. They want to touchiest feelie the boat, which is why Frank from WWDS, Wayne Hasson, and I were there.
 
A lot of folks just have zero interest in the trade shows...I am one of them.
 
I agree. As a diver, I have no interest in trade show especially when it out of town.

I don't believe it represents the fact that diving is not a mainstream hobby.

Realistically, scuba is definitely not a mainstream hobby, far from it.
 

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