IAADFS forges ahead with relocation plans

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Exhibitors at last week's IAADFS Duty Free Show of the Americas were mostly upbeat about the show's relocation to Fort Lauderdale next year, according to the association

Exhibitors at last week's IAADFS Duty Free Show of the Americas were mostly upbeat about the show's relocation to Fort Lauderdale next year, with "90% of them very positive", according to IAADFS executive director Michael Payne. "We spent last week getting a sense of what people want in terms of size and space, so we can reconfigure the area to meet their needs. Once we know that, then we'll manipulate the floor plan to accommodate them. That's why we're not taking bookings just yet." The space available to exhibitors at the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center is about three times the size of the trademarket at the Marriott World Center.

Payne said: "Once we know basically how the floor plan looks, we'll do our mailing. It will be earlier than usual, and probably before the August holidays. We'd like to have much of the legwork done well before Cannes, but it's also important that the trade responds quickly."

Payne said there would be ample space for exhibitors who wanted to create larger booths to represent their brands. He said that a number of participating suppliers who normally take suites had expressed reservations about the move to a show with only a trademarket, but he was confident that many would be participating next year. "We're committed to being flexible. We've had some people requesting two-storey booths and booths in different styles, which we'll look at accommodating too. Some of the houses want to show their brands off in a certain style, but there are ways of doing that well under the new format without it costing a fortune."

Of the dates for next year, April 17-21, Payne said: "We only had the option of very early March or these dates in April. Our intention is to host the event around the very beginning of April or end of March normally, and that will happen in the future. We aim to avoid Easter, Jewish holidays, and spring break?and prices change after April 1. We are conscious of TFWA Asia/Pacific taking place in May, but that will affect none of our buyers, and not many suppliers. Those who are affected we'll try to help as best we can."

Payne also said that numbers at this year's show had surpassed those in 2003, and that buyer numbers in particular were up "impressively". He said: "We have over 2,500 people registered overall, but I see the ratio of buyers to suppliers as a key number, and that's healthy."