On February 6, outdoor industry tradeshow Outdoor Retailer announced that it would seek proposals from locations beyond Salt Lake City to host its twice-annual markets beginning in 2019. Less than two weeks later, it stated it would not include Utah in the RFP process for future shows, stemming from disagreements with Utah governor Gary Herbert over federal versus state ownership of national parks, namely newly designated Bears Ears National Monument. An update on the proposal process is expected to be published tomorrow from Outdoor Retailer.
For the past 20 years, Outdoor Retailer has taken place in Salt Lake City with summer and winter shows. According to the Denver Post, the show brought in 45,000 guests and approximately $45 million in spending to the city last year. And over its two-decade span, Outdoor Retailer has generated nearly $500 million in tax revenue for Salt Lake City and the state of Utah.
Tourism councils on the West Coast have expressed interest in luring Outdoor Retailer to states like Colorado (where Outdoor Retailer’s parent organization, the Outdoor Industry Association, is based) and Oregon, yet New England states have been relatively silent in making a case to bring the show to the East Coast. While the region does not boast the tall mountain peaks or sheer density of outdoor companies found in western states, New England offers several unique selling points that would make it an appealing location to host the show.
The outdoor recreation industry is a driving factor in New England’s economy and has continued to grow in the last decade. Comprised of several mountain ranges and a stretch of coastline along the Atlantic spanning more than 400 miles, New England’s six states generate nearly billions annually from visitors to ski resorts and snowmobile trails, hiking trails and campsites, beaches and lakes, and fishing and hunting grounds. According to the Outdoor Foundation’s 2006 and 2013 reports, The Economic Contributions of Outdoor Recreation, New England saw the number of outdoor jobs grow from 222,000 to 333,000 over seven years, state and local tax revenue increased from $1.4 billion to $2.2 billion, and retail spending jumped from $17.4 billion to $31.3 billion.
As the largest city in New England, Boston ostensibly would be the main contender to host the show. The city has been on a tear in recent years to attract companies and events to the city and Outdoor Retailer could be a lucrative new avenue to generate longterm dollars in in-state spending and tourism. Despite a reputation for nimby-ism after stumbles with a failed Olympics bid and a botched Indycar deal, Boston routinely hosts large-scale conventions and tradeshows. The Olympics bid demonstrated why the city is well-suited to host large international events. Outdoor Retailer’s 2016 summer show hosted 29,000 guests, and both the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center and Hynes Convention Center regularly host similarly sized gatherings each year, including the New England Auto Show, Boston Flower and Garden Show (60,000), Anime Boston (nearly 27,000), Hubspot Inbound (19,000), and CollegeFest (17,000).
Those guests would comfortably fit within the 51,000 hotel rooms in the greater Boston area and they could easily fly into downtown Boston from Logan International Airport, as well as Providence or Manchester. The MBTA’s extensive subway, bus, and commuter rail network would make travel around the city accessible and quick escapes outside the city to the beach or mountains are all within reach by bus, train, or rideshare options like Ridj-It and Skedaddle.
Boston’s proximity to the ocean presents potential new opportunities for demonstrations for water sports and apparel companies, including standup paddleboard, sea kayak, kitesurfing, swimwear and wetsuits, and more. Boston also nurtures a strong technology and startup community with offerings in sportswear and apparel, food and beverage, and B2B technology. Boston-area colleges not only open up a large base of young, diverse consumers for the show, but also present university partnership opportunities for engineering, textile development, and sustainability initiatives with Outdoor Retailer exhibitors.
New England is also home to dozens of outdoor and sports retailers that could play a more prominent role at an East Coast show, including OIA Board Member Nemo Equipment, as well as L.L. Bean, Timberland, New Balance, Reebok, Eastern Mountain Sports, Burton Snowboards, and Darn Tough Socks. Collectively they could make the case to other outdoor retailers for doing business in New England.
And as the outdoor industry seeks to improve upon its notoriously white base of consumers and champions, partnering with a denser network of urban schools, the Appalachian Mountain Club, or Thompson Island Outward Bound could boost outreach to students and families not typically exposed to outdoor recreation and conservation.
Unlike states like Utah, Colorado, Oregon or California, the New England outdoor economy’s power — and legislative power — is distributed among six different states. Add New York state to the mix and the Northeast is a powerful player in the outdoor industry and on Capitol Hill. Discover New England currently works with tourism departments in each state to collectively capitalize on the region’s strength as a tourist destination. This could make collaboration among states easier to host the show and also centralize support on Capitol Hill to preserve federal funding and protection for national parks and monuments. Tourist dollars from Acadia National Park, Cape Cod National Seashore, the Appalachian Trail, and historic landmarks rely on federal funding to remain in operation. This was the main point of contention between Utah’s governor Herbert and Outdoor Retailer organizers and OIA members, so rallying support from six states could be a major incentive heading into potential legislative battles with the new administration.
Outdoor Retailer recently added a new consumer media exposition, Get Outdoors-NYC, in New York City to reach business and fashion media concentrated on the East Coast. This may dilute the East Coast’s attractiveness as a destination for Outdoor Retailer given its need to cater to its core base of companies based in western states. But a bid, even a losing one, could solidify the value of the outdoor recreation industry in New England as a powerful and potentially untapped economic driver, and perhaps convince smaller outdoor industry events to consider East Coast venues in the future.
COLLEEN FLYNN 