The 2007 PGA Fall Expo is an unqualified success across all categories with overall attendance growing by 16%, PGA golf professional attendance by 14%, manufacturer participation by 12% and interactive exhibit space by 10% at Mandalay Bay Convention Center, 10th – 12th September.
Aisles and booths were packed with high-quality visitors. New programs and events were filled to capacity. And Mandalay Bay Convention Center and Royal Links Golf Club offered a well-received, upscale setting to provide the ideal business and networking environment for the industry’s annual fall marketplace.
More than 4,500 PGA golf professionals, key retailers and business leaders met with more than 400 golf-related manufacturers within 55,000 net square feet of exhibit space for three jam-packed days of sourcing, networking, equipment testing, education programs and product discovery at the industry’s renewed annual fall marketplace.
“This year’s PGA Fall Expo has been exceptional in terms of wide-ranging participation, sourcing, networking and a sharing of ideas to help grow the golf business, on a national and grassroots level,” said PGA Golf Exhibitions vice president and general manager Ed Several. “We’re pleased that so many of our attendees and manufacturers have not only reached their business objectives this week, but surpassed them.”
Highlights from the 2007 PGA Fall Expo:
• Overall industry attendance grew by 12% to more than 4,500.
• Three of every four attendees were a PGA golf professional or buyer.
• Eighty-six percent of attendees had purchasing authority.
• Attendees represented 48 U.S. states and 30 countries.
• PGA golf professionals attended from 39 of 41 PGA Sections.
• Exhibitors increased by 12 percent to 407 participating companies, including top equipment manufacturers, such as Callaway Golf, Nike Golf, Bridgestone, Tour Edge and Wilson Golf. More than 100 of the hottest golf fashion companies unveiled their latest collections including Bobby Jones Sportswear, Cutter & Buck, Greg Norman Collection, Original Penguin, PING Apparel, J. Lindeberg, Lily s of Beverly Hills, Claudia Romana, Fila, Callaway Apparel, LIJA, Antigua, Jamie Sadock, Puma and more. Training aids and golf accessories were well represented too with companies like Full Swing, Wittek, Club Car, E Z Go Textron, Pride Sports, Easy Picker and Forefront Golf.
• Interactive exhibit space increased by 12 percent to 55,000 net square feet at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.
• Top PGA and golf retail facilities represented: PGA TOUR Superstore, Troon Golf, Pinehurst Resort, Pebble Beach Resort, Riviera Country Club, Bali Hai, Shadow Creek, Golf USA, Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club, Wailae Country Club and Sports Authority.
• PGA Fall Expo Golf Tournament provided 288 playing opportunities and had a waiting list for prospective players.
• More than 750 PGA Golf Professionals, retailers and industry leaders participated in the PGA Fall Expo Golf Tournament and Demo Day, Sept. 10.
• The inaugural Demo Day filled every hitting bay, practice green and spot in vendor village at Royal Links with more than 50 golf manufacturers demonstrating their latest equipment, training aids and accessories.
• Capacity attendance in majority of education seminars presented by PGA Golf Professionals and leaders of the Association of Golf Merchandisers.
• Industry Welcome Reception at the House of Blues on Sept. 11, attracted some 1,200 attendees and a full house.
• New Designer Roundtables attracted standing-room only attendance for an exchange of apparel-trend ideas related to technology/fabrications, color palates and merchandising programs.
• Key retailers voted on the Top-3 new offerings at the New Product Center: Fairway Skins (golf gloves), Smart Path Golf (training aid) and Birdie Ball (training aid).
PGA Fall Expo Returns to Mandalay Bay in 2008 with New Dates
PGA Golf Exhibitions and The PGA of America announced today that the 2008 PGA Fall Expo returns to Mandalay Bay Convention Center next year, 25th – 27th August.
“After listening to PGA golf professionals, exhibitors and golf retailers, we were able to move the PGA Fall Expo to late-August to better accommodate exhibitor product cycles and PGA golf professional and retailer purchasing schedules,” said Ed Several. “We are building on the successes of the past two years and expect to deliver even more to the industry in terms of sourcing, education and networking to grow their business and the game.”
PGA Fall Expo www.pgaexpo.com