How many people attended BTME 2024?

The BIGGA Turf Management Exhibition (BTME) took place at the Harrogate Convention Centre in North Yorkshire from 23-25 January, with thousands of turf professionals from across Europe taking part in the exhibition and trade show.

 

BTME is hosted by BIGGA, the British & International Golf Greenkeepers Association. BIGGA members have access to a wealth of training and resources, as well as personal and professional support and BIGGA is currently experiencing its highest membership levels for a decade, with 5,832 active members.

BIGGA's Karl Hansell said: “As the removals van returns to BIGGA headquarters in Easingwold and our team settles back into the daily routine, we reflect on a wonderful, exhausting week in Harrogate. With our Continue to Learn programme beginning on Sunday morning and the show not closing until 2.30pm on Thursday, BTME week is long and tiring and we’re forever grateful that our enthusiastic team is willing to spend so long away from home to ensure that our visitors and exhibitors have the best experience possible.

"The opportunity to meet so many of our members and watch as they engage in learning or in conversations with our valued exhibitors gives us energy and provides us with inspiration and awareness as we turn our attentions to the rest of BIGGA’s activities throughout the year.

"Thank you to everyone who joined us in Harrogate this year and we look forward to seeing you at another event soon.”

At BTME this year there were approximately 145 exhibitors, a 7% increase on 2023 levels, with an overall exhibitor space increase of around 10% on 2023. This included exhibitors in the Sustainability Zone, Support and Welfare Hub and Education Hub.

BIGGA also hosts the Continue to Learn education programme alongside BTME. The largest learning experience for turf professionals outside America, there were 1,145 education tickets sold between Sunday and Wednesday. This number doesn’t include the hundreds of attendees who enjoyed free learning as part of the seminar programme.

The trade show itself saw 4,234 unique visitors, not including exhibitors and others involved in the hosting of the event, such as more than 80 education speakers. This is an increase of around 60 visitors compared to 2023 numbers, itself considered a very successful show.

The average visitor stay was approximately 1.6 days, meaning visitors entered the halls and then stayed overnight, returning to the show the following day

BTME 2025 returns on 21 to 23 January, with Continue to Learn running from 19 to 22 January. Head to the BTME website for more information.