In the Pink

Was it just my imagination, or were more people smiling at this year’s Travel Goods Show? Was the overall atmosphere more upbeat, the tone more optimistic than you can recall from the last few shows? Most people know I have a “glass-is-half-full” view of life and tend to focus on the positive whenever humanly possible. But even the industry gloom-and-doomers that I have come to know and love over the years were calling the D.C. Show the best in five years, no doubt encouraged by a stronger economy and a renewed consumer interest in travel. Now, that’s definitely something to smile about!

Other reasons for the happy faces? Maybe because the 2004 Travel Goods Show had a certain vibrancy — a liveliness — that had been missing from previous shows. Sure, there has always been a hint of color here and a bold fabric there, but never has there been so much color and creativity from so many exhibitors under one roof at one time. Pink luggage? You bet! Disposable underwear? No kidding! For an exclusive look at the hot colors and cool designs that excited buyers and defined The Travel Goods Show 2004, see our Post-Show Wrap-Up and Review on pages 25-50.

To balance the scales, we’ve heard from quite a lot of you that you thought the show hours were too long and the show location (Washington, D.C. in February) was too cold. Well, we’re giving you a chance to sound-off about the 2004 Show — tell us what you liked and what you didn’t like — because we are already hard at work on plans for the 2005 Show in Orlando and it’s our goal to make the event as attendee-friendly as we possibly can. If you have a few free moments, please visit the TGA website at www.travel-goods.org and click the “We Need Your Input” icon. Your feedback is critical to the success of future Travel Goods Shows and we urge you to make yourself heard. We are open to suggestions and we are listening to you!

One comment we continually hear from both exhibitor and buyer attendees concerns our show locations. While it’s true that better venues bring better buyer attendance, the “better” venues don’t always want our business. Why? Because while we think we’re a big show, we’re really not, at least in terms of attendees. Many other shows that require the same amount of square footage that we do (over 300,000 gross square feet) are open to the public and therefore bring tens of thousands of attendees to the host city. Those attendees stay in hotels, eat in restaurants, go to shows and spend huge amounts of money. Some of the venues that have turned us down because we don’t bring enough attendees (and revenue) to their cities include San Francisco and San Diego.

Many of you have told us that you wish The Travel Goods Show was in Las Vegas every year. Well, from 2006 through 2009, with the exception of one year, you are going to get your wish! For those of you who like to plan ahead, here are all the future Show dates that are on the TGA schedule:

2005: March 18-20, Orlando, FL
2006: March 7-9, Las Vegas, NV
2007: February 27-March 1, Las Vegas, NV
2008: February 21-23, New Orleans, LA
2009: March 3-5, Las Vegas, NV

With the exception of the 2006 Show, contracts with all other show site cities were signed many years ago. Trade shows generally book dates and venues seven to 10 years in advance. This year, the TGA staff will be working on securing locations for the 2010 Show and beyond and focusing on a mid-February to early-March time frame.

TGA is still getting bombarded with press placements from the 2004 Show. Syndicated articles from USA Today, The Washington Post and The Washington Times are currently appearing in newspapers across the country. The April issue of United’s Hemispheres magazine features a fabulous seven-page article on The Travel Goods Show. We are anticipating feature articles in Business Week, Kiplinger’s, National Geographic Traveler, Entrepreneur, and Good Housekeeping. The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and U.S. News & World Report, among others, have requested new product and trend information. And, once we deliver this issue to our 500+ media list, we are always good for another big burst of industry publicity.

We hope you’ll take some time to enjoy our show!