Water, Sports & Travel Festival
April 26-28, 2013 Website: www.WSTFest.com Greater Ft. Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center Facebook: www.Facebook.com/WSTFest 1950 Eisenhower Blvd. Twitter: www.Twitter.com/WSTFest Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316
EVENT OVERVIEW The 1st annual Water, Sports & Travel Festival, taking place April 26-28, 2013 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, encompasses a series of city-wide events for those people interested in active lifestyle water-based sports. By bringing together all water sports disciplines - whether on the water, in the water or over the water – the Festival will encourage future growth and interest in these areas.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND? An extensive marketing campaign will reach a regional, national and international audience of consumers and professionals, with most attendees coming from Florida. Events will attract a broad cross-section of attendees with an active lifestyle and an interest in water-based activities. The Festival will be strongly influenced by its roots in the diving industry and will attract divers and non-divers, as well as those who participate in other water- based sports.
Water-based sports and activities include diving, snorkeling, swimming, underwater sports and photography, barefoot skiing, boating, body boarding, canoeing, rafting, rowing, kayaking, fishing, jet skiing, windsurfing, wakeboarding, hydrofoiling, skimboarding, flowboarding, kitesurfing, parasailing, stand up paddle boarding (SUP), surfing, skiing and boating toys.
EXHIBITORS Products and services exhibited in the Festival will feature leading suppliers of water sports equipment from scuba diving* and snorkeling gear, wakeskates and wakesurfers, wakeboards and boots, kneeboards, jet skis, boards and boarding gear, skiing gear, apparel and other action sports equipment. The exhibition will also include: dive tour operators, resorts and hotels, national tourism organizations, adventure and eco-tour operators, dive stores & retailers, education and training providers, certification agencies, freediving equipment, spearfishing, boating equipment.
Show Hours Friday, April 26: Professional Conference Friday, April 26: Consumers (4pm-8pm) Saturday, April 27: Open to All (10am-5pm) Sunday, 28: Open to All (10am-4pm)
FESTIVAL EVENTS The Festival will include a major exhibition water sports products and services, as well as travel destinations and tour operators from around the world at The Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center. An educational program is being created covering all water sports activities and will include seminars and training for consumer attendees, conference sessions for professionals, and eco and conservation sessions for everyone. Many additional special events are being created with the help of sports professionals including contests, in-water product demos; DiveCaching activities; live music; a lion fish cook-off; sports demonstrations; field trips to the Caribbean and around Fort Lauderdale; silent auctions…and much more yet to be announced.
MEDIA OUTREACH Media outreach will include both general and targeted marketing as well as PR coverage for all the special events. General marketing will include advertising in all types of media including print in newspapers and magazines, TV, radio, social media and direct mail. Targeted marketing will include advertising in specific water sports related magazines, water sports related social media and blogs, direct mail, and online.
PRODUCER DEMA, the Diving Equipment & Marketing Association, is an international organization dedicated to the promotion and growth of the recreational scuba diving and snorkeling industry. With more than 1,400 members, this non-profit, global organization promotes scuba diving through consumer awareness programs and media campaigns such as the national Be a Diver campaign; diver retention initiatives such as DiveCaching; and an annual trade-only event for businesses in the scuba diving, action watersports and adventure/dive-travel industries, DEMA Show. For more information on DEMA and affiliated programs visit www.dema.org. Stay updated by following “DEMAOrg” on Facebook and Twitter.
PARTNERS & SUPPORTERS The Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center
WHY FORT LAUDERDALE? Greater Fort Lauderdale is not only home to 23 miles of golden sand beaches but also to an array of dive sites and marine life. From Deerfield Beach in the north to Hallandale Beach in the south, a unique natural three-tiered reef system begins in 20 feet of water just 100 yards from shore at its closest point. And more than 75 artificial reefs have been placed on the ocean's floor over the past 20 years as magnets for fish and reef life. Beginning in depths of 30 feet, there are more than 100 dive sites with permanent mooring buoys to reduce anchor damage. Fort Lauderdale was named Top Ten World's Best Wreck Diving, Marine Life, and Value Dive Destination by the readers of Scuba Diving magazine. From THE GREATER FORT LAUDERDALE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU
EVENT MANAGEMENT The Water, Sports & Travel Festival is managed by MSE Management, a leading events marketing agency offering both strategic and management services for the creation and development of exhibitions, conferences & congresses around the world. For more information, visit: http://www.msemgmt.com/. To contact the Sales Team: 203-622-7081; [email protected].
*Life support and safety equipment may be exhibited but cannot be sold or purchased on Festival premises.