Organizers of the Outdoor Trade Show (OTS) in the U.K. said that 950 trade visitors attended its latest edition, held over three days at EventCity in Manchester. This was quite a special edition for the OTS, which had been held for the previous 12 years at Stoneleigh Park. The move to Manchester came after the British outdoor trade show calendar was reorganized with the merger between the OTS and the Reliable Outdoor Kit Show, which was held for several years in Kendal. The turnout at the OTS this year marked an increase of 7.5 percent from 2017, but the organizers were most enthused about the 30 percent rise in the number of repeat visitors on the Wednesday and Thursday, indicating that more buyers opted to stay longer. The number of exhibitors increased to 118. The show hosted retail buyers from leading independent stores as well as representatives from larger retail groups such as JD Sports Fashion, Outdoor and Cycle Concepts and Decathlon. Andrew Denton, chief executive of the Outdoor Industries Association, said in a statement that the next edition would be held one week after the new OutDoor by Ispo show, giving exhibitors time to move stands and samples from Germany.

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