Birmingham, England: Pre-pandemic confidence has returned to the Sports Turf Amenities Landscaping Trade Exhibition (SALTEX) as nearly 15 per cent more visitors attended the 2022 show than in 2021.

More than 8,300 attendees from across the United Kingdom and over 50 countries streamed through the doors over the two-day event at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre, signalling a return to pre-pandemic levels.

Geoff Webb, CEO of The Grounds Management Association (GMA), the event organiser, said: “SALTEX has long been the flagship show for the industry and, in its 76th year, showed that, after the challenges of the pandemic, confidence from both visitors and exhibitors has returned.

“With nearly 15% more visitors than the 2021 show, SALTEX delivered on offering visitors the widest array of equipment and products to explore, with over 400 brands on display, and offered exhibitors the largest audience to showcase their products to. 

“As a not-for-profit, everything we earn gets ploughed back into the industry through investment in resources and initiatives that benefit the groundscare sector.

“With the 2022 show being such a hit, we look forward to beginning work on ensuring we build on this success and make the 2023 show even better for the sector. We look forward to welcoming everyone back at SALTEX from November 1-2, 2023.”

In recognition of current economic challenges, the GMA introduced a special show rate for 2022 exhibitors, meaning that exhibiting at the 2023 show will cost the same despite increases in interest rates and inflation.

The response from exhibitors has seen the 2023 floorplan filling up quickly.

The independently audited post-show survey is already underway which will shed insight into the effectiveness of the event for generating new leads and sales for exhibitors and the role SALTEX is perceived to play in overall business strategy for both its visitors and exhibitors.