Some observations from someone who has been attending these for too long :}

1) As mentioned above, the welcome from the folks of Louisville was remarkable. More than once people came to me with thanks for being in the city they are very proud of.
2) With the TRUMP circus in town, :ugh: screwed up availability of taxis on Tuesday night. Waiting for 90 minutes for a cab after dinner was the low point of this trip.
3) Reduction of attendance was not very apparent. Still got good traffic & good business done.
4) Note to myself; bring warm clothes next time :ok:

All in all, happy with my week :cool:

Fly safe, always!

I can see HAI keeping the numbers quiet unless they can find a formula that truthfully gives a positive result!!!!

That issue of footfall does not really matter with these events - although all organisers will naturally trumpet them to the fore.

What matters is whether the individual exhibitors got value for their money out of the event. If they chose the product and venue well and they got customers as a result they will be happy. The presence of 10,000 tyre kickers and photographers means nothing if the [aviation specific] customers are absent - although such as the food vendors might have a different opinion on that.

The significant absence of many English language European media representatives will have an effect on the smaller traders getting some stories out there but the cascade of stories pumped out by the larger organisations will no doubt feed the pages of the newshounds for weeks to come.

As previously mentioned the overall winners at this event are likely to be the waste papers pulp merchants.:ugh:

Didn't go but have seen these
Heli-Expo 2016 Photo Report/ and this 2016 Heli-Expo - Archive| Vertical Magazine - The Pulse of the Helicopter Industry

The cabs there were pretty bad in both condition and service. A few guys I was with used the Uber app instead of cabs and we had a WAY better experience. Its no surprise why the guys that developed that are successful--its a way better option.

Couple of things

Hotels - not as many choices on the HAI approved list - all taken up pretty much by Oct last year. Also too spread out with events and parties from the different OEMS spread out. I know quite a few peeps and friends ended up renting houses.

One cab driver told me that he and his buddies did not like the convention shuttle buses as they took away their business.

Nontheless a trip downtown be between $20 and $30 , a few of my contacts and mates suggested the Uber....

Atmosphere was ok quite laid back alas the show did not have that many attendees as previous years. Maybe because the hall was more spread out, the booths themselves spread out such as the Airbus one. Interesting enough hardly any crowds around the Airbus Helicopter booth, more folks around Bell for those three days...

Saw Trump's 757 on the ramp as leaving the convention center :)

Friendly enough peeps but the city IMHO seemed a tad depressing, maybe it was the weather. Though admittedly when arrived at the weekend, it was quite warm, blue skies and sunny.

Myself like many others here went to the Meet and Greet brekkie where the Governor of the State and the Mayor were present on the podium. I wondered in spite of them paying for us / donating the convention center for free - how much was the actual cost at the end for those exhibiting.

cheers

Did you try UBER?

Did try Uber and it showed up a few minutes after the regular cab, although the wait on it was about 15 minutes. Should have called them earlier.

I am not so sure that the HAI list hotels were as critical as suggested.

I booked one of the HAI list [Crowne Plaza Airport] via my local travel agent [it was marginally cheaper] late last year. It was from the Saturday. I assumed the hotel was then booked up as it was by far the closest hotel to the convention center.

But I was wrong.

In the meantime I booked an extra night [Friday] for one in my party as he was getting earlier than planned.

As I was sitting at Heathrow waiting to fly to Chicago I got a message from him that the original booking was missing. I had visions of being out of town or in some grotty alternative hotel.

A quick scrabble through the papers explained all. The top copy said Louisville KY but the back papers said St Louis MO. That's one hell of a commute. As it was Saturday I was able to call my travel agent and within the hour they confirmed a 'new' booking same hotel [2 rooms] same period. On arrival I just took up my room but the money bit took some days to sort.

So even though it was the closest hotel it was not full and the disaster booking was repaired all too easily. I doubt that would happen in any other HAI Heli-Expo location in recent history.:\

HAI now says that "some 14,000" attended the 2016 show, down from a pre-show forecast of "about 20,000 attendees."

For comparison:
Heli-Expo 2015 (Orlando) = 18,272
Heli-Expo 2014 (Anaheim) = 19,038
Heli-Expo 2013 (Vegas) = 20,393
Heli-Expo 2012 (Dallas) = 19,023
Heli-Expo 2011 (Orlando) = 16,019
Heli-Expo 2010 (Houston) = 15,243
Heli-Expo 2009 (Anaheim) = 17,995
Heli-Expo 2008 (Houston) = 17,373
Heli-Expo 2007 (Orlando) = 14,806
Heli-Expo 2006 (Dallas) = 16,628

(Prior year figures here)

I/C

We love ya, Kentucky, but we're calling the marriage off. (It's not you, it's us. Well, maybe it is you a little. Specifically your flight connections. And your weather. And the fact that our rates went up 10%... :E)

http://i.imgur.com/Awfx4MP.png

I/C