SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif. (BRAIN) — Interbike said Thursday that Utah is no longer in consideration as a potential show venue in 2018 or beyond.
Officials from Emerald Expositions, parent company to Interbike and Outdoor Retailer, met via teleconference with Utah Gov. Gary Herbert on Thursday and determined that in light of the outcome of the call and the ongoing debate over the issue of public land use, Interbike will not include the state of Utah in the RFP process for future show locations.
"We will continue with the RFP process in the other locations that we've been in contact with for Interbike," said Pat Hus, vice president of Interbike. "Other than removing Utah from the process, nothing has changed from our standpoint. Interbike is committed to finding the best location for the cycling community, and we hope to have a more definitive direction in approximately 60 days."
Darrell Denny, executive vice president of Emerald Expositions, further commented, "Emerald Expositions will also not extend the request for proposal to Utah for relocating the Outdoor Retailer trade show."
The call Thursday included officials from Outdoor Retailer, the Outdoor Industry Association, Patagonia, The North Face and REI.
Marisa Nicholson, show director for Outdoor Retailer, said Salt Lake City has been hospitable to the outdoor show and community for the past 20 years, but "we are in lockstep with the outdoor community and are working on finding our new home."
"We are doing the work necessary to procure an alternative location for Outdoor Retailer," she said. "Though we may wish it different, this is far from a snap of the fingers thing to make happen. Convention centers and hotels are not sitting idle. ... We expect that our current proposal process, which we initiated before any of the company withdrawal announcements last week, will take between 60 and 90 days."
