On 11^th-14^th June, Visit Isle of Wight, along with its industry partners, attended the BBC Good Food & Gardeners World Exhibition at the Birmingham NEC to promote the Isle of Wight.

The BBC Good Food & Gardeners World Exhibition has been running for over 23 years and attracts on average 100,000 plus visitors over four days.

This year, our stand had a coastal theme with the focal point being a huge screen showing stunning seascape film by local video artist Paul Windridge. Helping to create the seaside theme was Chris Kidd, curator of the Ventnor Botanic garden who created a beach with boulders, inches of sand underfoot and a planting of blue grasses and thistles, and pink acanthus interspersed with garlic flowers from the garlic farm. A wooden bench, a six foot lighthouse and two white beach huts holding our publications completed the look.

Liz Walker, VIOW Exhibitions Promoter, who attended the show, said: the BBC Gardeners World exhibition is a perfect platform from which to promote the Island particularly with this year’s re-launch of Wight in Bloom and our eye-catching stand really gave us something with which to engage visitors with. With thousands of publications picked up from our stand and over 700 competition entries received, this proves that the Isle of Wight continues to be of great interest as a destination.

 

Visit Isle of Wight will be representing the Island at future shows, including The 50+ Show at Kensington Olympia from 14-15th July and The New Forest Show from 28^th-30th July. Any tourism-related business interested in becoming part of the 2016 exhibitions program should contact Liz Walker on 01983 201048 or email liz@visitwight.org