Organizers of the Outdoor Retailer trade show announced today that they intend to continue to hold the twice-annual event in Salt Lake City through summer 2018.
The show organizers said they polled more than 6,000 specialty retailers and brand exhibitors to gauge their concerns and preferences about potentially moving the event to another city. According to a report, more than two-thirds of those surveyed voted to keep the show in Utah.
“Salt Lake and the state of Utah have proven to be wonderful hosts to the Outdoor Industry and to Outdoor Retailer over the years,” Marisa Nicholson, VP and Outdoor Retailer’s show director, said in a statement.
In recent years, Outdoor Retailer has struggled to provide sufficient housing and transportation options for the thousands of show attendees who flood into Salt Lake City twice a year. The trade show took steps earlier this year to alleviate some of the challenges by moving the dates of its January events so that they no longer overlap with the Sundance Film Festival.
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Amy Roberts, executive director of the Outdoor Industry Association, said more improvements are a priority. “We will support continued efforts to increase hotel accommodations and local infrastructure to ensure the city continues to provide a positive attendee experience, especially for specialty retailers,” she said in the statement.
Future show dates for both the Summer and Winter markets are:
Winter Market 2016 – Jan. 7-10
Summer Market 2016 – Aug. 3-6
Winter Market 2017 – Jan. 7-10
Summer Market 2017 – July 26-29
Winter Market 2018 – Jan. 6-9
Summer Market 2018 – July 25-28
