Wrexham Mackem wrote:
The event exists to make money for charity. It would be remiss of the RAFCTE not to maximise that. They know what their market will stand. Of course, they're obliged to provide a show in return, but don't forget your entry fee is a charity donation. The free shows on the continent or in the US do not have the same primary motive. You aren't comparing like with like.
WM - I wasn't comparing like-for-like based on charity, I was basing my comparison on show price / content. I realise that some / many, free / cheap foreign shows don't 'push' this aspect but I wouldn't mind betting it still happens at some, only in the background. And if it doesn't? Well you only have to look at how well these events are populated to realise other nationalities don't always view large events as charity 'cash cows'?
Whilst I appreciate that many people in the UK like to think a portion of any entry fee will go to charity do you not think the time has come to ease back on overly-priced events (not just air shows) just because charity is the main aim? We already have RIAT which goes 'full on' to publicise the reasons for the event, with some others to a lesser degree, however, don't you think it would be good to have at least one major air show that puts the customer's pleasure first? I am not saying there should be no charity donation, just simply that for once it should not be the main publicised aim of the show and that the cost / experience should outweigh the cost / donation element.
I am involved in the organisation of two events, one an air show the other a village event, in both cases giving what we can to charities or worthwhile causes, once the 'outlay' and 'contingency' pots are covered, is important and both have a charity element in their advertising. However, as organisers we also know that without giving a very good experience to our customers as our main priority our events may ultimately fail and we could find ourselves in the unfortunate position of not having an event for either purpose.