Get Into Fishing at The Game Fairs – A Serious Opportunity for Angling

Dear Member,

As you know, for some time now, ATA has been building its ability to support recruitment and engagement to boost angling growth long term to grow your business.

With member support, the NFM and TAFF initiatives were firmly re-established in 2022 and, in conjunction with Environment Agency and others, we supported engagement with thousands of lapsed and potential new anglers.

In 2023, the ATA will celebrate its 50th Anniversary by expanding its commitment to re-engagement with a far greater audience and boosting promotion of angling benefits via its Get Into Fishing (GIF) brand. 

After extensive negotiations with the Game Fairs group (Stable Events), ATA has secured a series of major benefits for members and a potential brand audience in excess of 120 thousand.

One aim of the GIF project is to develop regular calendar events that help grow participation as well as encouraging more tackle sales. Working with The Game Fairs in England, Scotland and Wales, ATA has produced an all-encompassing show format under the GIF brand that will deliver benefits for ATA members, their business and long-term industry growth with potentially negligible outlay.

The GIF experience will run alongside The Game Fairs, delivering an audience of around 150,000 potential anglers across the three events. Previous surveys indicate that round 30% of those attending will already be existing or lapsed anglers providing a target for re-engagement, but there will also be a SIGNIFICANT proportion who will be targeted to try fishing for the first time.

This is a complete departure from Game Fair-based angling content of the past. This is a showcase within a show. The GIF experience, backed by angling industry media, will promote and expand the show’s influence across all angling disciplines.

Alongside this will be a comprehensive trade lead package of content, from have-a-go and tuition to speakers, tackle demonstrations, celebrity appearances, book signings and kids’ activities centred on angling, its environment and its benefits.

ATA has been working hard to minimise the financial impact to members wishing to support this initiative, by offering benefits such as discounted stands and the opportunity to get your money back if you sell tickets via your social media streams.

The GIF project, due to launch on 28-30th July 2023, is aimed at drawing the whole of the industry together to provide information and awareness for access to angling at all levels. Scheduled at the end of July, GIF at the Game Fairs will also add value to the ATA’s wider National Fishing Month campaign by establishing a focal point between the lead up to NFM starting in May and the start of NFM month itself on the 1st August 2023.

EXCLUSIVE benefits to ATA members and benefits brokered by ATA include:

  • Heavily discounted stands (starting at just £500 for a 3x3m unit)
  • £5 back for every ticket you help to sell via your own exhibitor code, effectively providing a free 3x3m stand for selling only 100 tickets.
  • Larger 3 x 15m discounted units with added exhibitor facilities are available and have the same money back facility.
  • Free entry for kids
  • Discounted entry for all EA rod licence holders.
  • Free parking and camping for exhibitors. Free parking for anglers
  • A dedicated show beside the lake (at Ragley and in Wales)
  • Free access to pontoons and bank space to demonstrate your products.
  • Lecture theatre space provided for your consultants to demonstrate and talk about your key products.
  • Extensive advertising of the event through Bauer’s angling titles + media coverage in other fishing magazines and platforms.
  • Social media promotion via ATA, EA and other industry media, as well as support for your own social media streams and promotion via The Game Fair’s wide-ranging channels.
  • Sponsorship opportunities for all interventions present at the events including NFM, TAFF, Let’s Fish and others.
  • Representation on interactive event media and ATA platforms.
  • Regional and national angling and non-angling press campaigns.
  • Opportunity for discounted stand rates at all three Game Fairs (England, Scotland and Wales).
  • Coordinated retail to reflect event aims as well as general sales.

This is a unique opportunity for you to take advantage of your ATA membership and have an impact on recruitment whilst boosting exposure of your brand and products cost effectively. The show format is specifically geared towards smaller stand commitment, and lower consultant-based staffing with more emphasis on tackle demonstration and its use in support of dedicated retail with a tackle offering reflecting the event profile.

With serious engagement from ATA members, GIF at the Game Fairs could provide another opportunity within the angling calendar for you to help shape the future of angling and of a major outdoor fishing show.

For more information, you can download the additional GF brochure HERE Please contact me via 07778 907384 or chair@anglingtradesassociation.com or call John Hunter on 07990 542958 if you wish to discuss showing at these events.