IN THE NEWS
THE WINE SHOW JO'BURG SHATTERS SHOW RECORDS
The fifth edition of The Wine Show Jo'burg has once again proven that the unique format of South Africa's leading consumer wine show continues to be a benchmark event for the local wine industry. The show maintained its steady growth with a 19% increase in footfall and a record-breaking R2,4-million sales reported by exhibitors over the three-day period.
According to organiser John Woodward, these figures definitely validated the decision to move the show to the Coca-Cola dome. "Due to the lack of a credible auditing system for exhibitions in South Africa, we have made a unilateral decision to turn our focus to the business achieved during our show rather than concentrating merely on footfall. Many producers reported their highest sales ever on any given show platform, which is undoubtedly due to the exceptional high quality of visitors to our show. Show surveys indicated that 51% of our visitors earned between R15 000 and R40 000 per month, while a staggering 36% reported a monthly income of over R40 000. The fact that 84% of all visitors eventually bought wine at the show is indeed encouraging for us as organisers and should also appeal to existing and potential exhibitors as it proves that we've found a superior model to achieve actual wine sales," states Woodward.
Organisers continue to receive positive feedback from various exhibitors regarding the exceptional organisation, brilliant lay-out, storage and distribution. Piet Dreyer of Raka Wines is a regular exhibitor at the show and maintains that it is an excellent show. "I have been very happy with this show from the very beginning and my sales have once again been through the roof this year," said Dreyer. This sentiment was reiterated by Nixan Wines stating "The Wine Show Jo'burg was fantastic for us. Good organisation and marketing created a brilliant vibe and high quality customers coming through the door. I will definitely be back next year."
This year's show also achieved unprecedented media coverage with several TV crews, including the highly rated Top Billing lifestyle show filming during the show. In total, media coverage in excess of R1,2-million was achieved for this year's event, which definitely places the show at the forefront of consumer awareness.
Woodward is also confident that the future of the show is secure as they are still consistently attracting new target audiences. "Although The Wine Show Jo'burg has always had a huge number of return visitors, show statistics have once again shown that The Wine Show Jo'burg constantly attracts a previously untapped audience of affluent wine lovers. 29% of this year's visitors have never visited another wine show, which means we are providing our exhibitors access to an unexploited market segment," mentions Woodward.
Dates for next year's show have already been confirmed for 5-7 August 2011 at the Coca-Cola dome in Northgate.
Best Regards,
The Wine Show Team
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