Been to show, will travel?

Reviewing the success of a travel show is a tough job. What does one base the rating on? Number of visitors? Number of catalogs, posters and candies taken and/or given away? Nope. Can you count how many people actually purchased a trip? The fact is people were interested and came to the Travel & Vacation Show in Ottawa on April 4-5. It's impossible to quantify, but one can't discount an effect the neighbouring wedding show had on numbers and the demographic profile of visitors. To many, it was a distraction. To many others, it was an inspiration and after seeing wedding merchandise they went to pick their honeymoon destinations.

Anyway, despite the surge of wedding-addicts in the area, visiting Ottawa Travel Show was a pleasant experience. Canadian provinces, of course, dominated the floor, while African countries appeared to have the second biggest presence. I was somewhat surprised by the presence of European countries, or the lack of thereof. Strategically positioned next to the main entrance and neatly packed together were the New Europeans – Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Romania (in this order). The quartet was divided right in the middle by the good old Blighty or, to be more specific, by a travel agency offering specialized tours mainly to Britain. Scotland and Ireland had their own stands, as did the Spain, Iceland and the European Union. The presence of the European unity was only slightly disturbed by the absence of a Polish representative (at least on the Saturday afternoon).

On the other hand, Slovak stand was well manned by Vladimir Wiedermann (Head of the Trade and Economic Section of the Slovak Embassy), Zuzana Eperjesiova, representative from the Slovak Tourist Board, and by Pavel Dzacko of the Slovak House and Renata Dzackova (Nitra Travel). The Slovak stand was decent in appearance yet not boring and certainly overflowing with every possible type of the feel-free-to-take-it stuff; overall well suited for the location and the importance of the event.

The indoor venue, Aberdeen Pavilion in the Lansdowne park, is a cosy Victorian building although a bit shabby in appearance. It used to host ice-hockey games and agricultural shows (hence the nickname “Cattle Castle”). But then, travelling isn't only about 5-star hotels. Unfortunately, as teams of exhibitors applied finishing touches on Friday, the skies opened and so did the roof and raindrops poured down quite happily on the merchandise. Mr. Wiedermann was less than impressed by the standards offered in a facility hosting an international travel show in the G8 nation capital. Fortunately, upon Mr. Wiedermann's complaint, one of the organizers offered to rectify the issue and promptly suggested supplying a bucket... Unfortunately, that only added to the sense of a small-town fair that hung in the air in the hall.

However, in spite of all the limitations of the location and the weather, Slovakia got everything it could from the show. And that's good thing.