ICAST – More than just the Biggest Fishing Tackle Show in the World
LAST week I attended the world’s biggest fishing trade show – ICAST in Orlando Florida – as a guest of the Australian Sportsfishing Association (ASA). As AFTA CEO I had managed two of our own trade shows in Australia so I thought I was pre-warned and preconditioned as to what trade shows were about and what to expect. However, I was ill prepared.
ICAST is massive. Though it is not open to the general public, being a trade show for wholesalers, distributors and retailers only, over 11,000 people attended the show over the three days. This year exhibition space at the show was booked out with 2,000 exhibition spaces filled.
For the last couple of years ICAST has also been incorporating the International Fly Tackle Dealer (IFTD) Show, making ICAST even more comprehensive in the range of gear on display.
Just like at Australia’s AFTA Trade Show, there are the small exhibitors, who may have only one new product, such as a line clip or a range of lures to exhibit through to the industry heavyweights with big, some times multi level stands, hundreds of products and experts to tell you all about them. I found it very easy to spend the three days of the show wandering the exhibitions looking at the vast range of brands and gear, a lot of which we do not see in Australia and some I know we will see next year.
But ICAST has a lot more to offer. It also runs a number of seminars on various aspects of fishing and doing business, from protecting fishing rights in America to trends in bricks and mortar and online retailing.
I was privileged to be invited to meet the ASA Board. Top of their agenda for discussion was Australia’s marine park process and how the recreational fishers of Australia dismantled the previous government’s disastrous marine park policy. It was clear from my discussions that Australia and America have a lot in common when it comes to protecting the right to go and catch a fish. As an outcome from my meeting I will be working with ASA to establish an international network of recreational fishing representative organisations in order to share ideas, advice and strategy on protecting fishing rights.
A final observation on ICAST is that the ASA has done a great job in making sure that the protection of fishing rights is woven into the way the tackle industry views its business with recreational fishers, from specific fishing rights merchandise through to consumer show days that bring the latest products directly to consumers.
