Expertise Events, the organiser of the JAA jewellery fairs will hold only two fairs in 2014 – the JAA International Jewellery Fair in Sydney and the JAA Brisbane Jewellery Fair.
Announcing the decision to drop the JAA Melbourne Fair (at least temporarily), Expertise Events managing director Gary Fitz-Roy said the company was responding to “popular sentiment from the exhibitor community”.
“There has been a lot of discussion about the appropriate number of jewellery trade fairs and in which cities they should be located,” he said.
“Now that the Melbourne and Brisbane Fairs have concluded and we’ve listened to all the feedback, it has provided us with an opportunity for reflection and careful consideration of our 2014 and future plans.
The decision to maintain Brisbane was, he said, predicated on its long establishment and the fact that most Queenslanders were less likely to travel interstate to a trade fair.
However, he stressed that the company had still not ruled out the possibility of alternating the Melbourne and Brisbane fairs.
“Many people have suggested that the Brisbane and Melbourne fairs should alternate each year and it is something worth considering after next year’s Brisbane fair.
In addition, he revealed that the company was also planning to launch ‘National Jewellery Forums’ in Adelaide and Perth this year.
Open to all industry suppliers, the Forums aim “to service the South Australian and Western Australian markets with smaller events with basic table space at the Adelaide Event & Exhibition Centre on October 15 and at the Crown Perth Casino on October 17.
“The goal of the National Jewellery Forums will be to provide events that unite and collectively service the market in as cost-effective a way as possible,” said Fitz-Roy.
“By various suppliers supporting one inclusive Road Show, open to all, buyers will not be expected to attend a multitude of smaller events,” he said.