Liverpool Boat Show cancelled
Rob Mackenzie: ‘appalling news’
LBS: After all the hype, the Liverpool Boat Show was cancelled this afternoon, February 14. Organiser Marine Industry Events (MIE), blamed the economic climate impacting on exhibitor take-up.
But MIE went on to say the integrity of the long term potential for a major boat show in Liverpool needed to be protected.
‘Our decision is obviously appalling news and it has been an extremely difficult decision to take,’ said MIE MD Rob Mackenzie, ‘not least because of the enormous sense of responsibility and partnership we feel for everyone in Liverpool.'
He went on to highlight how hard the city council and its corporate partners, British Waterways, Liverpool Marina, Albert Dock Liverpool and the local sailing community had worked to support this project.
‘The failure and the financial loss and its consequences are MIE’s to bear alone, but it is better to cancel the show to protect Liverpool’s reputation,’ he said. ‘More than anything else, we’ve cancelled the show to protect the integrity of what we know to be the enormous long term potential for a major boat show in Liverpool.’
Economic outlook
Market sentiment about the economic outlook deteriorated rapidly from late November 2010, said Mr Mackenzie, and this negative trend accelerated sharply in late January, with many contracted exhibitors citing a commercially disastrous London boat show as the catalyst for their decisions to withdraw from Liverpool.
BB spoke to MIE director James Gower this evening, who said the cancellation was a tragic situation. But emphasising the point about the London boat show, he confirmed when, as organisers, they sent reminders around to the exhibitors about booking hotel accommodations, restaurants, etc, many simply said they couldn’t afford it.
‘Some are asking how to get their deposits back,’ said Mr Gower. ‘Others just said keep the money.’
We haven’t run away, he added. The company hasn’t gone into administration and we’re still answering the ‘phones.
‘We worked extremely hard to make the boat show happen in Liverpool this year as it would have been a great showcase event for the city,’ said Cllr Wendy Simon, cabinet member for culture and tourism. ‘However, we have the building blocks in place to stage other exciting maritime events and to revive the boat show in the future when the national economic outlook recovers.’
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