The UK’s last remaining ski show outside London appears to have been dropped by organisers Telegraph Events.
The Ski & Snowboard Show North had run at Manchester’s Event City and its website remains live, but still showing previews for the 2015 event.
The organisers say that previous Manchester ticket bookers have received a ticket discount to the London show via email.
Last year the London ski show, currently called ‘The Telegraph Ski and Snowboard Show London’ moved to a new venue at Battersea Park south of London and the organisers are currently heavily promoting the 2016 event, which will take place from 27 – 30 October this autumn.
The Manchester event is the last of the non-London ski shows to cease operating. There have been several versions of a Scottish ski show, in Glasgow, the last one taking place in 2011. There was also a ski show in Birmingham for many years but an attempt to revive and renew this in 2013 was cancelled when the Manchester show was organised on the same dates announced for Birmingham, leaving potential exhibitors ‘torn both ways.’
In the past there have been more small regional shows and additional London shows besides the ‘main event.’
The demise of Manchester is believed to be related to a downward spiral of falling visitor attendance and falling exhibitor numbers, a challenge for show organisers everywhere in the modern era.
Numbers released by the London show’s organisers for the 2015 event showed attendance down by a third to 25,587 compared to 35,269 who attended the show in 2014. In it’s heyday in the 1980s the show was staged over 10 days and attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors.
“We worked incredibly hard to bring our new concept to life in Battersea Park. We always aimed to create an authentic alpine feel, whilst still remaining true to our market and we attracted a premium, high-net worth audience this year,” said Lindsey Guy, The Telegraph Ski & Snowboard Show, Show Manager, adding that this year’s event will have a focus on families and more onus on the après ski atmosphere which proved popular in 2015.
Lindsey Guy said the 2016 Show is, “aiming to grow our visitor numbers without losing our core snow sports market.”