Welcome to 2017!

The team at the Toronto Snow Show hopes that the season so far has been kind to you all.  With luck and a measure of snow, the lift tickets, travel plans, skis and snowboards should be flying off the shelves. 

We wanted to take the opportunity to catch up with the President of the Canadian Ski Council, Mr. Paul Pinchbeck, to gather his thoughts and hear of some exciting information regarding the 2017 Toronto Snow Show and beyond.

Q & A

What can you tell us that is new with regards to the show?

As you know from the wrap report circulated earlier, the 2016 edition of the Toronto Snow Show declined in attendance.   Certainly, the unseasonably warm weather and, perhaps, the Blue Jays playoff run can be identified as possible contributors to the results.  What we can be proud of is that we continue to stage a show that improves in quality with each passing year.  2016 was no exception.  The addition, of the live broadcasts, new hard goods manufacturers and other features allowed us to continue a run of strong value scores as expressed by our attendees. 

The 2017 edition of the Toronto Snow Show will continue along this theme of constant improvement.  The team is already in the planning stages of what we believe will be an even better show in the coming year. To that end, the Canadian Ski Council (CSC) has renewed our production partnership with the Canadian National Sportsman’s Show (CNSS).  The CNSS is a highly experienced show operations organizations and this new agreement will give us a solid foundation on which to build out the 2017 show.

In addition, we have taken the bold step of moving the dates and location for the show.  After careful consideration and consultation with many industry players, the Canadian Ski Council has decided to move the show dates to October 26-29, 2017.

Why are the show dates moving?

I believe that the answer is that the time has come to show leadership and set a new direction for this important kickoff event to our season.  As a former retailer and resort marketing person, I understand the challenges that moving dates makes for all our attendees.  However, the fact that can’t escape us is that the retail and travel booking season is moving later into the fall months.  Consumers are waiting longer to commit to retail, travel and lift ticket purchases.  We need to respect that trend and look to set ourselves up with new dates that still respect season pass and travel deadlines, while aligning more closely with the purchasing intentions of the guest.

Will the show still be at the International Centre?

We will be staying at the International Centre and moving to Halls 2 and 3. This will give us the opportunity to renew the floorplan of the show and add new experiences to attract the guest.  The outdoor feature, that has been a key part of our show for four years, will move inside so as to better drive traffic to our exhibitors.

Many of you will have concerns about moving the show. I can tell you that the CSC and CNSS will ensure that we have a robust marketing and promotions budget in place in order to communicate the new dates and location.

Is this a permanent move of the show dates?

Yes,  we believe that these new dates are the best possible arrangement for the long term success of the show.  That said, we can’t afford to be complacent with respect to our management of the show.  If another set of dates would prove to be of benefit to our exhibitors then we will consider them.

We wanted to once again take this opportunity to thank all our exhibitors.  Without all of you, there wouldn’t be a show and your success and input has always been important to us.  We look forward to continue working with you on the 2017 Toronto Snow Show and beyond.