Exhibiting at Surf Expo
 by Gene Muchanski, Editor
The Dive Industry Professional

As a Dive Industry Professional you might want to ask, “Why is Dive Industry Foundation exhibiting at Surf Expo?”  The answer is simple.  The Surf Expo is a Trade Show that specializes in watersports and watersports related products.  In her book, Trade Show In A Day, Rhonda Abrams of The Planning Shop said, “At a trade show or expo, the primary action takes place on the exhibit hall floor.  Attendees are there to visit booths, and all non-exhibit activities are secondary.”  We exhibit to identify and meet with watersport product exhibitors and the thousands of qualified retail buyers who attend.  At a trade show, attendees are there to make purchases for their business.  Trade Shows are order-writing shows.

The Dive Industry Foundation is a non-profit, tax deductible, educational and charitable foundation.  Our mission is “Promoting Economic Development in Watersports.”  The foundation conducts primary diving industry research, consults with dive businesses on business, marketing, and strategic planning, maintains the DIVE LOCAL website, and exhibits at trade and consumer dive shows.   As a research and educational foundation, our mission is to facilitate the movement of goods and services between buyers and sellers in the global diving community.

The Surf Expo is owned and operated by Emerald X, LLC.  January is Surf Expo’s 50^th Year Anniversary.  Surf Expo has always been known as the active lifestyle expo filled with watersports and board sports hardware, soft wear, and apparel vendors.  Surf Expo has been very innovative in showcasing their exhibiting categories that have included Surf, Skate, Wake, Paddle, Dive, Boutique, Shoreline Outdoor, Resort, Souvenir, Swim, Footwear, and Coastal Gift & Décor.

Surf Expo introduced a Dive Category at their September 2011 Expo. Their 2011 Exhibitor Guide stated their focus for introducing a Dive category.  “Dive – Surf Expo announces its introduction of a new product category this September – Dive.  The category launch will focus on snorkel, swim, freedive and spearfishing; recreational diving products that encompass a strong, growing market for surf, resort and watersports shops everywhere.”  Introducing exhibitors from the diving community to the Surf Expo was a great move forward, although I do not believe the industry fully took advantage of the opportunity.  At that time, snorkeling equipment was perceived to be a product line that was only sold in sporting goods stores and the equipment vendors were reluctant to exhibit their professional scuba equipment lines and their sporting goods line at the same show.  Their rationality was that retail buyers who attended Surf Expo were only interested in their sporting goods line and not their scuba pro-dive lines.  Times have changed.  Wholesale buyers have changed.

The global diving industry has changed considerably in the last 15 years.  While there has been an increase in the number of diving instructors teaching classes, there has been a decline in the annual number of newly certified divers.  The travel habits of divers have changed in the global diving community.  There is less local scuba diving activity and more scuba diving, snorkeling, and freediving activity happening at dive resorts worldwide.

Retailing in the global diving community has also undergone significant changes.  There are less dive stores that specialize in scuba diving-only but more retail operations that sell scuba diving, snorkeling, freediving, and spearfishing equipment.  Our research has indicated that the difference in perception of what is technical diving equipment, pro-dive equipment, sporting goods equipment, and recreational toys is evolving every year, in the minds of the consumer.  Consumers in the 21^st Century are purchasing their diving, diving related, and watersports products from dive stores, surf shops, fishing supply stores, boating supply retailers, watersports retailers, resort destination gift shops, sporting goods stores, big box retailers, and the internet.  Buyers from each of these location types are looking for guidance in choosing the best venue to order their merchandise from.  We are here to help them do just that.

As a Trade Association, our mission is to coordinate the movement of goods and services in the industry’s channel of distribution by bringing buyers and sellers together.  We consult with diving equipment and apparel suppliers to help them identify the best venues for exhibiting their products to qualified wholesale buyers.  We work with the wholesale-retail trade to identify which venues are more likely to showcase the programs, products, and services they purchase for resale.   We offer our services as Industry Buyer Relations Managers to the buyers and sellers in our Global Diving Community.

Surf Expo is conducted in January and September every year.  The venue is the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.  One of the largest conference centers in the world.  Orlando has fabulous support from Hotels, Restaurants, and Entertainment Centers.  The area is served by Orlando International Airport and is within driving distance to at least 25% of the dive stores in the United States.  Florida accounts for 25% of the dive stores which means that it represents a sizeable portion of our industry’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in the United States.  Surf Expo is focused on being an all-inclusive Watersports Trade Show.  There is considerable space to conduct sales meetings and seminars for exhibitors and buyers.  The expo is only three days long and qualified retail buyers can register for free.  The Surf Expo is conducted by Emerald Expositions.  Surf has six Sales Category Managers to help you select the best booth space for your company needs.  Their Buyer Relations Staff works with exhibitors to connect with registered buyers that attend the shows.  Surf’s Marketing, Operations, Accounting, and Show Director Staff do everything they can to make your Trade Show Experience as seamless and prosperous as possible.

The September Expo is the perfect time of year for a buying Trade Show.  Qualified Retail Buyers from Florida and the Caribbean attend the expo to purchase inventory for the Christmas Holiday Season.  Retail Buyers from the diving community are looking for all types of diving equipment and are getting more serious about carrying apparel at their stores.  Watersport Retailers are increasingly more interested in carrying diving equipment, freediving gear, spearfishing products, and diving related apparel.  We think that exhibiting at and attending Surf Expo is the perfect way for exhibitors to increase their number of retailer customers, and for qualified retail buyers to add new vendors and product lines to your store.  It is a WIN-WIN for both buyers and sellers.

The Dive Industry Association and Dive Industry Foundation are committed to bringing buyers and sellers together to grow the Global Diving Community.  We are actively working with Shows & Events Organizers to bring a trade component to their events, shows, expos, and conferences.  We have taken it upon ourselves to be the Buyer Relations Professionals for the Dive Retail Network and their Vendors and Suppliers.  Please contact us if you need more information about exhibiting at or attending Surf Expo.  We will put you in contact with the proper Surf Expo Staff.

The Dive Industry Foundation relies on generous donations from Dive Industry Professionals like you.  Please support our research today.  For more information about the Dive Industry Foundation, contact Gene Muchanski, Executive Director.  Email: gene@diveindustry.org  Web: www.diveindustry.org

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