An excellent visitor attendance and brisk business has resulted in exhibitors at the recent Skipper Expo Int. Galway 2015 hailing the show as the busiest ever.
Held last week on 6 and 7 March at the Galway Bay Hotel, Ireland, exhibitors reported an excellent level of interest in their products and services at the Mara Media organised show, which is now in its 11th year.
Michael Keatinge, Interim CEO BIM said “We were very proud to sponsor the Skipper Expo Int. Galway this year. The show was busy as soon as the doors opened, which is testament to how well the event was promoted. As sponsors, BIM was professionally represented throughout the venue and the show gave us the perfect opportunity to meet with the industry and promote safety at sea and Inshore Fisheries which are key priorities for us this year. Well done to Hugh, Sharon, Declan and Niall and all the team at the Skipper for yet another well organised and professional trade show.”
Exhibitor Tom Hand of Tom Hand Electronics said: “The Galway show was definitely the busiest and best that I have exhibited at. There was a lot of interest in our new low cost VSAT from KNS, with four orders being confirmed.” He added: “It was a great show for us and we will definitely be back next year.”
Willie Gilger of Cleggan Marine, distributor of the Prop Protector rope and debris cutter, also had a great show. He said: “We had a plenty of interest and it was the best show for us as far as we are concerned for quite some time.”
For EK Marine, this was their third year at the Galway Expo. Fionnuala Cunningham of the company said: “This year was even more exciting, as we were in a position to exhibit two of our 25 ton trawl winches, which are part of a hydraulic package being manufactured at EK Marine Killybegs.
“We have received several enquires and orders as a result, from new and existing customers. We felt that this year’s show was even bigger than previous years, with a huge increase in the number of people visiting our stand from 10am in the morning. Thanks to Sharon, Hugh, Declan, Niall and all the staff at the Mara Media and the Galway Bay Hotel for a very professional show. We look forward to Galway 2016!”
Declan McBrearty of KER Group said: “The Galway Show has yet again proven to have been a successful show for the KER Group, with some sales at the show and some good leads to follow up on. 2015 marks KER Group’s eighth year participating at the show and we have witnessed it grow. In fact, with its growth we feel it could be time to relocate the exhibition to a bigger venue.”
A major attraction at the expo was the well-attended safety demonstrations in the pool of the Galway Bay Hotel. RNLI Fishing Safety ran these demonstrations with BIM to show different types of floatation equipment from life jackets to life rafts.
Frankie Horne RNLI Fishing Safety Manager said: “This was the busiest show we have had and fishermen were very interested in the work the RNLI is doing to promote safety in the fishing industry. Thanks must go to the organisers for their continued support to promote safety, the Galway Lifeboat and to all those who helped in the pool demonstration. It was a great show.”
RNLI Fishing Safety also had a stand at the expo to promote safety in the fishing industry.
Sharon Boyle of show organiser Mara Media said: “It was a fantastic show and I would like to thank all the exhibitors for their support over the years and, of course, everyone who visited. Special thanks also to BIM for their support and the companies who sponsored our highly popular seafood buffet.”
The next fishing show lined up by Mara Media will be Skipper Expo Int. Aberdeen 2015, which will be held at the Aberdeen Exhibition & Conference Centre on 29 and 30 May. More information at www.maramedia.ie, or contact Sharon Boyle on 00353 86 840 1250.
FiskerForum.com
