Those who attended the recent PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando or the Golf Industry Show the following week in New Orleans (and if you attended both, we truly admire your dedication) got an up-close-and-personal look at the current state of the golf business.
At the PGA extravaganza, organizers reported that attendance was down 4.5 percent. The GIS suffered even more, with about one-third fewer attendees than the record-setting total at the 2007 Orlando show. The number of vendors exhibiting was down as well.
Are those declines simply a reflection of the troubled U.S. (and international) economy? Or are they a symptom of a deeper problem with the makeup and format of the shows themselves?
Which do you buy? What changes could the PGA of America and the organizations that stage the GIS make in their shows to make them more attractive to golf industry professionals? Or should they just sit tight and ride out the recession?
