EXCURSIONS 2006 VISITORS UP A THIRD
DATES ANNOUNCED FOR 2007
Saturday, 13 January 2007, Alexandra Palace, North London
Visitors to Excursions 2006, the UK's premier one-day group travel show held at Alexandra Palace on Saturday, 14 January, were up around a third over last year at just short of a thousand. Delighted with the positive feedback from both visitors and exhibitors alike for their 30th anniversary show, the organisers have re-booked the same venue for next year's exhibition on Saturday, 13 January 2007.
The free entry show is organised by Tourism South East and Group Travel Organiser magazine, supported by Visit London and the East of England Tourist Board.
The number of exhibitors was around 170 with destinations, attractions, hotels, transport providers and tour operators taking stands and included an international presence by the French World War II rocket base attraction, La Coupole, and Hotel Bären from Germany. Over fifteen were new exhibitors keen to inform group travel organisers about their latest developments.
There was an excellent take-up for free places on the coach services offered to visitors from outside London kindly provided by members of the Confederation of Passenger Transport UK's (CPT) CoachMarque quality scheme. Seven coaches with onboard Blue Badge guides departed from twenty-two major towns plus three central London main line railway stations. In addition, Redwing Coaches operated a free shuttle service from Alexandra Palace and Wood Green stations to the exhibition venue.
30th Anniversary
Special events to mark Excursions 30th anniversary started around midday when the Marching Blues, one of the country's top rated concert and showbands, marched down the exhibition aisles to take up position on the central stage and invited visitors to join with them and sing 'Happy Birthday'.
This lively introduction was followed by a presentation from Phil Evans, the Greater London Authority Tourism Manager who welcomed exhibitors and visitors to Alexandra Palace. Underlining the importance of group travel to London's tourism economy he said; "Group travel is hugely important for London and London's attraction and theatre sector in particular. The needs of the group visitor will not be ignored and are being accommodated in revisions to the London Strategy and Tourism Action Plan." Mr Evans then cut the anniversary cake, which was later handed out to exhibitors.
Among those taking space for the first time was the Shrewsbury Flower Show. According to Annette James "We brought 250 roses with us to give away to visitors to our stand expecting to take some back but they had all gone before 2pm. We were delighted with the number of visitors, far more than we had anticipated." Also commenting on a very busy morning, Scott Dolling from Suffolk Tourism said, "We completed enough business in the morning to warrant our being at the show, and the afternoon was still to come."
Pippa Craddock from Paignton Zoo and Living Coasts said their stand was busy non-stop and they had no time for lunch while Richard Bifield from Ironbridge and Shropshire was very impressed with the high quality and quantity of visitors to his stand throughout the day.
Former exhibitor Julia White from Windsor and the Royal Borough summed up Excursions 2006 in just one word, "Fantastic".
Excursions organisers are now looking forward to building on this success and welcoming back all those who attended this year plus many more.
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