The Show Must Go On

Last month was the start of a busy year of shows and exhibitions for Shorefield Holidays. The season opener commenced with a week away in Birmingham at the National Exhibition Centre for the annual Caravan & Camping Show, showcasing the latest season's models from the major caravan and motorhome manufacturers to holiday inspiration and accessories.

So having loaded up our van with our stand, banners and half a tonne of brochures we headed up the motorway to find our home for the next week, at least it was dry and not snowing like last year. Although a breeze to get to, the real pain began with unloading all the equipment and the long walk to find our stand. So we quickly ‘commandeered’ (pinched would be too strong a word), a large trolley and before we knew it, all was ready to go, whilst all around us, carpet was still be laid, stands and decking’s being bolted together, it was time for a pint and reflect on the uv lighting and horrible air conditioning that lay ahead and consider if all the others would actually be ready in time.

This year was the first time we actually stayed in the centre of Birmingham. In previous years we had always stayed on the outskirts in a lovely Country Hotel, complete with its very own 9 hole golf course and health club. As nice as it sounds, it is a little too far out, the commute to and from the show isn’t great, the choice of dining options in an evening is limited and, most importantly, it’s too dark when I get back to hit a few golf balls on their famous par 3 course. If only the show was in the summer! So it was off to the bright lights and the hustle and bustle of the Bull Ring for us.

Conveniently situated a short walk from the train station, our well known ‘branded’ hotel was comfortable enough. There was a bar, most important, and dining room, however, with so many excellent watering holes and restaurants a short walk away, we were certainly not confined to our lodgings. The majority of us found the rooms to be pleasant enough, especially those of us on the 9^th floor, the higher you are the less noise you experience, needless to say, I slept like a baby. The rooms, although basic were comfortable enough, with some nice touches, if you could get past the two thermostat settings of Arctic and furnace. It certainly wasn’t like staying in our park accommodation and the bath was no hot tub.

I am not sure if there is some weird and wonderful reasoning by this, (any feasible reasoning would be greatly accepted), but why don’t hotels ever put plugs by the side of the bed? And persist in situating your nearest power supply somewhere on Spaghetti Junction.

Breakfast was always pleasant and had the desired effect of filling you up, before a busy day at the show. So after a short train journey, although on the whole painless as long as you ensure you get on the correct train, with the correct ticket, as this is not always clear, with different operators running different trains and some rather over effective ticket collectors, catching you out. It was still a lot easier than our previous year’s commute.

We always really enjoy the Caravan & camping show, as it is a great opportunity for us a business to chat and engage with our customers and promote ourselves at the start of the season. I always find it strange that not more of our competitors display themselves more prominently. Many other holiday parks choose to ‘hideaway’ on manufacturers’ stands, rather than promoting themselves as a destination in its own right like we do. Even our neighbours either side of our stand, seemed content with simply giving out ‘free stuff’, rather than chatting and actually listening to their customers. Perhaps that comes down to who you having working at an exhibition like this, sometimes there is just no stopping our team.

It was really fantastic to hear such great feedback relating to our parks from the people we met at the show and there was certainly a really good feel to this year’s event. Although I think it wasn’t as busy as previous years, I pretty sure the recent weather has delayed the holiday buzz. The recent storms and the devastation at Milford on Sea was certainly a talking point, ‘oh I saw you on the news’ were an ice breaker when explaining where our holiday parks are located.

Our Busy Holiday Home Sales team were situated over the other side of the Hall with our local holiday home manufacturers Regal. The organisers of the show certainly got the layout of this area completely wrong. All cramped in rows something reminiscent of a 1970’s holiday park. It certainly didn’t show off the lovely new Regal Riviera to its full potential. Another strange inclusion was to the static holiday home area, was the dog show arena. Now our parks are all pet friendly and bringing one’s four legged friend on holiday or to your holiday home is certainly a market for us, but I am not sure how well this fitted with the parks and manufacturers. Throughout the day, ear plugs were a must, to drown out the incessant barking and although Ashleigh and Pudsey were certainly a crowd puller, I am not sure the organisers got this right.

Let’s hope next year the organisers listen to the feedback and make some needed changes, but one thing is for sure, we will be there again. In the meantime it is onto Romsey for the South Coast Caravan and Motorhome show on the Broadlands Estate, between the 4^th & 6^th April. SB