“Feedback from exhibitors at the WesBank Motoring Experience, held at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit and Conference Centre, from September 1-3, as well as from the visitors was very positive and attendance was even better than we had forecasted,” says Konstantin von Vieregge, CEO of the event organiser, SA Shows Messe Frankfurt.
“We were fairly conservative in our prediction of attendance at the 2017 Motoring Experience, as we moved from a five-day event to a three-day event. We estimated that between 40 000 and 45 000 would attend the three-day show and you can imagine our delight when the attendance figures totalled 57 600 people. This year we cut down on the number of complimentary tickets issued so this makes our attendance figure even more impressive.
“The exhibitors were also pleased that people spent a fair amount of time at the various stands. A good example was that one company ran out of coffee on the first day so doubled the order for the next two days to keep the visitors happy as they sat at the stand and looked at the cars on display. Our movement analyses showed that people spent more time at the event in 2017 than they did in 2016.
“The Puma Energy 4×4 area worked very well for the companies that made use of this excellent facility,” said Von Vieregge. “The visitors also appreciated it that this time we expanded the facilities in this area to include a dedicated food court and display areas for the exhibitors.”
Will Kinsman, who is involved in organising content for the annual Goodwood Festival of Speed in the United Kingdom, and who assisted SA Shows Messe Frankfurt with the content at the Motoring Experience, said he was impressed by the maturity of this year’s show considering this was only the second of these experiential events to have been staged in South Africa.
The CEO of SA Shows Messe Frankfurt said that a survey had shown many visitors who had attended last year’s Festival came to the Motoring Experience and this backed up by trembling of the visitors to the SA Festival of Motoring Facebook page means there is a good base on which to build going forward.
An important development for the 2018 Festival which will be appreciated by exhibitors and visitors alike will be the construction of another set of 40 pits on the top display platform. This will benefit a number of drives on the track that can be offered to the public. The driving element is and will remain a core element of the show.
“On Sunday, I took off my official badge and went to the show with my family to experience the ‘day out for the family’ which we had promoted and it proved enjoyable for all my family members, which was very heartening. Sustainability of these shows is our objective and it seems we are on the right path,” concluded Von Vieregge.
From a visitor point of view, the feedback received on social media proved extremely positive with comments such as “What a phenomenal event! Can’t wait for the next one.”, and “Awesome experience! Will definitely be back!”. All in all, a fantastic event for motoring enthusiasts.
The 2017 Wesbank SA Motoring Experience brought you the best motoring content in partnership with 947, CAR Magazine, AutoTrader and KykNET.