Fishing, Camping and 4WD Show bucks current economic times

Fishing, Camping and Four Wheel Drive Show bucks current economic times with record crowd attendance and exhibitor sales

As news broke just days ago that a recession may be unavoidable, it was far from the minds of camping and fishing enthusiasts at the National 4×4 Show and Outdoors Expo and Brisbane Tinnie and Tackle Show with the three day event attracting a record crowd of more than 31,600 to the RNA Showgrounds over the weekend.
 
The co-located events smashed a series of records with Friday March 20, 2009 the biggest opening day on record, Saturday March 21, 2009 the best attended day in the history of both shows and yesterday the biggest Sunday recorded.   The total crowd figure of 31,644 which was seven percent higher on last year’s show which attracted, 29,304 over four days.
 
As the records for the crowd figures were smashed so too were records for exhibitor sales with many businesses at the show revealing their sales figures were up by between 50 and 200 percent on last year.
 
Mark Petersen from the National 4×4 Show and Outdoors Expo said that while there is a lot of doom and gloom within the economy people are still saving their money and indulging in their favourite pastimes.
 
“Even though we are currently in a time of economic uncertainty people are still rearranging their finances so there is a bit left in the budget to go out and buy a new tent or some accessories for their four wheel drive,” Petersen said.
 
“The other major thing we saw this weekend was a number of event patrons just wanting to get out there and forget about the doom and gloom and focus on the things which make them happy, which is getting outside and enjoying everything that Queensland has to offer.”
 
Jason Plant from the Brisbane Tinnie and Tackle Show said that while larger luxury boat manufacturers are feeling the pinch sales on smaller tinnies are actually up on the same time last year.
 
“For many people buying a tinnie or small boat is something which is still extremely achievable in the current economic climate there is no better place than Queensland to take off for the day and hit the bay for an enjoyable day out fishing,” Plant said.
 
“While people aren’t spending their money on overseas holidays they are still holidaying closer to home and hence why we are seeing more people take up fishing.”
 
ARB, TJM, Horizon Boats and Kratzman Caravan and Marine were just four of the many exhibitors who recorded great success at the show.
 
“We had a fantastic show this year, numbers were good and sales were great.  The positioning and exposure of our Travel & Traction Test Bed helped drive business to our stand.  On the Saturday we were absolutely smashed with customers and this helped pathe the way for a very successful show,” said Lachlan Brosnan, Dealer Representative for the ARB Corporation.
 
“Great show, the numbers were definitely up. This resulted in our best 4×4 Show in comparison to all other shows we’ve done here in Brisbane.  The visitor turnout and sales result certainly goes against the current trend in the marketplace. It goes the show people are still keen to pursue their hobbies and lifestyle even in these tough economic times,” said David Miller, State Sales Manager for TJM Australia.
 
“We have had great response from the show with great sales results, from small tinnies right up to our largest models with our Brisbane dealer Kratzmann Marine. This show really suits our target market and proves that aluminium boats are still affordable given the current state of the economy,” said Scott James, Sales and Marketing Manager at Horizon Boats.
 
“It was great to see record crowds at the show, we had an increase in sales of 200% from the 2008 show,” said Gary Kratzman from Kratzman’s Caravans and Marine.
 
Next year’s, National 4×4 Show and Outdoors Expo and Brisbane Tinnie and Tackle Show will be held on March 19 – 21, 2010.