KESWICK, Ontario (BRAIN)—ExpoCycle 2011 will take place September 11-13, and will move to the Palais de Congres in Montreal, Quebec. The Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal race will take place at the same time.
Interbike's Outdoor Demo takes place September 12-13, 2011, while the indoor portion runs September 14-16.
"For us it was about evaluating, not reacting," said Janet O'Connell, executive director Bicycle Trade Association of Canada (BTAC), producers of ExpoCycle. "We talked to the marketplace both during the show and post show. We realize this represents a challenge logistically for some suppliers; however, this challenge was not created on our end. Of the retailers we surveyed the majority—close to 100 percent—said they would attend ExpoCycle 2011 while less than 25 percent would be attending Interbike. We have a winning formula and will go ahead as planned."
BTAC surveyed retailers and suppliers on the topic of dates and locations for the 2011 ExpoCycle show. A series of questions about potential dates and locations—including late August, the current September 11-13 in Montreal (to go with the ProTour race again), and late September in Montreal or Toronto. Retailers were strongly against an August show. Suppliers indicated that the ability to partner with the ProTour race again in Montreal on the September 11-13 would be positive. Going later was not seen as a viable option for suppliers and venues were unavailable. Very few said that they absolutely would not attend if the shows were back-to-back. The majority of retailers said that they would still attend in Montreal despite the back-to-back dates with Interbike.
"We personally walked the aisles of events, surveyed and had many calls with our members to gather direct input from our industry as to what they would like the future to hold for ExpoCycle," O'Connell said. "The changing landscape of tradeshow dates, manufacturers' retailer events and other factors has required us to take a harder look at our plans. However, it is clear to us that the market still wants to see product on the show floor the second weekend of September and Montreal still provides the best host city for ExpoCycle. Combine that with the high-caliber of racing that the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal brings and we call that a winning formula."
