"Our revitalisation of South Africa's largest consumer retail platform, which began in 2009 when Expo Centre bought back the rights to the show from Kagiso Exhibitions & Events, is gathering momentum," said the show director, Pula Dippenaar.
"This year's show saw the number of visitors grow by 40% to 245 000 and we had 28% more exhibitors. We believe the 2012 edition of a Johannesburg-based show that dates back 118 years will be even more successful.
"We are feeling bullish about the future following an opinion survey of visitors to the 2011 Rand Show, which showed that more than 95% of them said the event met or exceeded their expectations and more than 90% said they would come to the exhibition in 2012.
"The growing number of exhibitors reflects the potential market offered by visitors who are split almost 50:50 in terms of gender and with 75% of them representing households with children."
The show organisers are now negotiating for a wide range of entertainment and experiential events to be staged alongside the exhibitors' displays at the recently upgraded Expo Centre.
"We believe in offering added value to visitors in terms of entertainment and special events that are all included in the price of an admission ticket. This is very much a family event and ideal for a day out during the Easter holiday period. We see our target market as middle and upper income families living within a two to three hour driving radius of Johannesburg," she adds.
The 2012 show will extend over 45 000 m2 of indoor exhibition space divided into themed areas: Food Hall with a food theatre and wine tasting room, Science & Technology, Education & Training, Furniture & Homeware, Parastatals and Government. A further 40 000 m2 of outdoor exhibition space is available and will also be divided into themed areas: Garden & Outdoor Rooms, Boating & Waterfront, Caravans, Camping and 4X4 off-roading as well as an Extreme Zone featuring motorcycles and quads.
For more, go to www.randshow.co.za.
