Despite considerable criticism of the poor organisation and low-quality venue for the IAAPI trade show in Delhi (January 29-31), there are some positives to be drawn from the experience, says one of the major exhibitors.
Prakash Vivekanand, whose ASI won the stand award at the show and who has also been a critic of the organisers in the past, was this year more complimentary.
“The venue quality was great, visitor traffic on the first two days was good and quality high. The impact of cheap products was on the decrease. Operators are willing to consider better product at a better price and that’s a huge positive over previous years.
"The development of the business is beginning to happen in India, especially in smaller towns with many more smaller investors wanting to put money into the amusement industry. You cannot ask for more from a show where most repeat exhibitors go with little or no expectations. The conference was also a better effort than normal.”
Vivekanand had one negative: the lack of foresight by the organisers in the area of freight. Equipment was delayed for most exhibitors because the venue did not have a container storage facility. January 26 was a national holiday, the 27th a Sunday, leaving only the 28th for build-up. This meant that release from Indian Customs in advance was not possible due to lack of storage on site. He says the organisers should have allowed for this.
