Visit Riihimäki's experiences from the travel fair

Visit Riihimäki participated for the first time in the Travel Fair held at the Helsinki Exhibition and Convention Centre from 19 to 22.1.2023 January XNUMX. This was the first time that Loppi, Riihimäki and Hausjärvi were together at the same stand to talk about tourism opportunities in the area.

As the head of the exhibition stand, it was very important for me that everyone talked about what the customer wanted to hear about. So it was important to ask the customer what they were interested in and not to try to show off their own expertise. It is pointless for us to talk about the Glass Museum to someone interested in nature and vice versa. This has been admirably clear to the Visit Riihimäki working group, which includes, in addition to Ninn and me, the Loppi, Riihimäki and Hausjärvi communicators, namely Tuula, Eija, Marianne, Mia and Anniina. There is real power in collaboration, which we were able to feel at the fair.

We built a performance stage for the Travel Fair and scheduled a program that would be interesting to travelers. At the fair, we noticed that following the program was too much for many visitors in the hectic fair environment. The most popular performances included music and comedy. Jiri Parviainen was playing the cello on Saturday and telling Valkeavesi soi about the event. The cello sounded great and brought a good lift to the stand. The city of Riihimäki's introvert, actor, presenter, and toy merchant Janne Kataja was also at the stand on Saturday. Oh, the number of fans and selfies! I admired Kataja's professionalism – he talked and talked, smiled, and was friendly to everyone.

Our stand at the fair received a lot of compliments. Some people were from Loppe, Riihimäki or Hausjärvi, some had visited one of our destinations and some were unfamiliar with the region. Some people from neighboring towns were surprised that their hometown was not represented at the event. Our tourism hub, nature, culture, well-being and local life, were interested.

We received the new Visit Riihimäki brochure directly from the printer for the stand. You can request this brochure if you wish. From Riihimäki Information Center and share with our own customers. Our stand received a lot of praise, it was said to be the most beautiful stand at the Travel Fair. Some thought it needed more color and some liked the fresh look of the stand. There are many opinions, fortunately. Our stand had a playful competition, the prize of which was a glassblowing experience. The competition was very popular.

We are currently considering participating in the fair in January 2024. What do you think? How would you build a stand? Please let me know your thoughts and I will pass them on to the working group by the end of March. That's when we will start building summer camps!

The author is Visit Riihimäki's Marketing and Communications Manager, Pauliina Lindgren, who is inspired by new releases and wants to read as many books as possible during her vacation.

5 tips for attending the fair:

1. Start planning way too early – TIME will be on the cards after all

2. Read the INSTRUCTIONS from the trade fair organizer. The trade fair center's eMessukeskus was easy to use, for example, for sending invitations.

3. MESSAGE early. Tell us about your participation, even if it feels awkward at times.

4. Make the booth and being there BRAND-VISIBLE.

5. Last but not least – HAVE FUN at the stand. Then the customers will have a better time too.