News release
7 October 2011

Coach & Bus Live success bucks exhibition trend

The biennial coach and bus industry trade show, Coach & Bus Live 2011 (CBL), has bucked the recent decline in exhibition trade show attendances with visitor numbers up around 6% on the 2009 show. More than 6,250 coach and bus industry professionals visited this year’s show which was held on 5 and 6 October at the NEC in Birmingham. Pre-registration was up by more than 12% compared to the 2009 show. Almost 220 exhibitors, an increase of 10% on 2009, and 80 vehicles, gave visitors the opportunity to compare a wide range of products. Show Director, Mark Griffin, says that benchmarking the success of CBL against other different trade exhibition sectors demonstrates the strength of the coach and bus industry.

“Data from the UK trade exhibition industry indicates that some shows in other sectors have been hard hit,” he says. “Some have been experiencing a year-on-year decline in attendances of between 10% and 15%. The coach and bus industry is a resilient sector, so we were optimistic that we would see a good turnout. However, to see growth of around 6% compared to the last show in 2009 is a significant achievement. Exhibitors and visitors came out in force to support the show. Our industry should be congratulated, not only for bucking the trend of declining visitor numbers in some other sectors, but also for showing huge amounts of enthusiasm and optimism for business success over the months to come. There’s undoubtedly a lot of caution being shown by many operators, but overall there was a much more positive mood than we saw in the show two years ago.”
Early feedback from exhibitors and visitors indicate that the special features of the show played an important role in encouraging a high attendance.

“We work hard to differentiate CBL from its sister show, Euro Bus Expo,” says Mark. “CBL is the smaller of the two shows, firmly focused on the domestic coach and bus industry. The inclusion of the Master Class and Workshop Live programme, the expanded Technology Zone, and the Accessibility and Tourism areas, really did give visitors the opportunity to focus on talking to the suppliers that matter. This year we ran a targeted, pre-show marketing campaign that really worked. Our industry should be congratulated for a magnificent turn out. The feedback from exhibitors indicates a real desire among visitors to do business.”

Commenting on the show, Simon Posner, Chief Executive of the Confederation of Passenger Transport, says: “It’s been an extremely positive two days, underpinned by the visit of the Transport Minister, Norman Baker, and the many operator members who came along. The Minister spoke with many operators and listened to their views. The upbeat feel to the show left him in no doubt of the enthusiasm and ability of manufacturers and suppliers to play their part in providing solutions to improving the quality of public transport. That said, he also took on board the concerns facing operators with their various challenges including the impact of local authority cutbacks and the changes surrounding the Bus Service Operators Grant. Meeting those operators with vehicles supplied with help from the £47m Green Bus Fund was a real opportunity for him to hear how they were being received by passengers.”

The success of the show is reflected in comments from exhibitors and visitors:

For more press information call Stuart Render on 07760 172773 or Julie Hartley on 07764 428447.

Note to editors:
Coach & Bus Live takes place biennially and is organised by Expo Management and the Confederation of Passenger Transport.