7,500 visitors at the Place in the Sun Live HOME » NEWS » 7,500 visitors at the Place in the Sun Live A Place in the Sun Live exhibition at NEC Birmingham proves a runaway success High volume of quality business and bumper attendance of more than 7,500 visitors defies credit crunch and industry predictions A Place in the Sun Live, the UK’s biggest and best-attended overseas property exhibition, attracted over 7,500 visitors* to the NEC Birmingham this past weekend (Friday 26th–Sunday 28th September), a credit crunch-defying figure which delighted both the organisers and the 179 exhibitors. Says Ken Pritchard, Group Events Director at organiser Brooklands Exhibitions: "In the current economic climate, to deliver a 7,500-strong audience is a great result. Overall attendance was down only slightly (by 6%) compared with the February show in Manchester earlier this year, which was of a similar size but in a markedly different economic climate. We went into the show in the shadow of a wealth of negative press coverage regarding the global financial markets, but despite this achieved a good number of high quality buyers. “The atmosphere was genuinely electric on all three days and, from first to last, the show was full of people who were not just window-shopping but looking to take advantage of weakening international prices. A Place in the Sun Live prides itself on delivering a core audience of serious buyers with money to spend, and they certainly turned up this weekend – in their thousands.” Initial feedback from exhibitors was equally positive, with many reiterating the fact the show exceeded their expectations in current trading conditions. And although visitor numbers were down slightly, participants reported an increase in the number of leads and sales achieved. Clearly, as the A Place in the Sun Live organisers had been saying for some weeks, although times are tough, now is actually a great time to buy overseas property. Exhibitor testimonials: “Having visited other property shows this year, this one is still the market leader and has the all-important feel-good factor.” Maggie Waldon, Domisi Development “In the current climate I have to be honest and say we had low expectations for the show, but we have been incredibly surprised by how good it has been – both in terms of visitor numbers and the quality of leads.” Ben Mason, Someplace Else “A strong show with a good number of customers, clients were well-informed and knew exactly what they wanted. Given the hard times, excellent.” Ruby Karatziola , Ready2Invest “A Place in the Sun is the only serious overseas property show.” Charlie May, Lifestyle Homes “The show was a great success in terms of the number of visitors: many more than would have been anticipated in the current economic climate. Clearly there are a lot of people thinking about purchasing property overseas and, indeed, sales were achieved over the course of the three-day event” Robert Nixon, Nirvana International UK “We always find A Place in the Sun Live is the best source of quality leads.” Steve Bailey, Dream Coast Homes What’s next? The 2009 A Place in the Sun Live calendar kicks off from 3rd-5th April with an exhibition at Earls Court London, co-locating with the Ideal Home Show. It will be the first time A Place in the Sun Live has taken place in affluent West London. Says Darren Styles, CEO of Brooklands Group: “If we are able to deliver such a strong NEC show in the economic climate of today, so widely applauded by the industry, then being alongside the Ideal Home Show at Earls Court in April will be something very special indeed.” With the NEC event boasting queues of visitors every morning, packed seminars, exhibitors reporting “a real buzz” around the hall and visitor surveys showing that many are financing their intended purchase with savings, it really does feel as if the last one to leave the country should turn off the lights... Ends *A Place in the Sun Live is the only UK overseas property exhibition to submit its attendance figures for the international-standard, independent ABC audit. The confirmed ABC-approved figure will follow shortly. For more information on Brooklands Group Ltd visit www.brooklandsgroup.com Press contact: Maxine Soghmanian 01737 786820 maxine.soghmanian@brooklandsgroup.com Editor’s notes: Brooklands Group is the publisher of the official magazine of the Channel 4 TV series A Place in the Sun, organiser of the A Place in the Sun Live events and further holds contracts to publish customer titles for Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Renault and Vauxhall plus the in-flight magazine for Flybe. Source: Place in the Sun