Toyota Gibraltar Stockholdings Ltd. TGS

About Us

TGS Today

Products

Conversions

Logistics

Contact

Quality Control Survey

TGS attend the Aid & Trade Exhibition in Washington - July 2009

July 2009 saw Aid &Trade’s first ever exhibition to be held in Washington. The Reagan Center provided an impressive backdrop to what proved to be a successful event with a good number of participants.

The current economic climate has meant that American-based organisations have found it increasingly difficult to attend Aid & Trade Exhibition (normally held in Geneva) or DIHAD (Dubai). Consequently, this year’s Washington event proved to be very helpful, offering these organisations the opportunity to become involved in the event.

Some of TGS’s key clients are based in New York, Washington and Los Angeles, so this event, together with the Baltimore off road driving training program, proved to be an extremely useful means of engaging with our clients. We were able to demonstrate our product and allowed TGS staff not only to build upon existing relationships, but also establish new ones with organisations which have been unable to attend previous Aid & Trade exhibitions.

We chatted to TGS USA General Manager, Debbie Bairdain, who provided a personal account of how the exhibition went and the benefits it brought to staff members, our clients and TGS as a whole.

How do you feel the Washington Aid &Trade Exhibition went this year?
I think this year’s event was a great success. We had a variety of clients visiting our stand. Not only did it give the Gibraltar staff a chance to meet some of our existing US clients, but we also made some very useful new contacts. We also gained some information about the activities of our competitors. Most importantly, it gave the US customer base a chance to meet and speak with the Gibraltar staff.

What benefits did you gain from attending the event?
There is no substitute for face to face contact. We were able to introduce TGS to the customer and understand in detail all their requirements while the customer was able to evaluate what TGS has to offer and get immediate answers to all their questions.

How did TGS USA prepare for the Aid and Trade exhibition?
Preparations for the event began in Gibraltar several months before the show. This included shipping equipment, materials and a vehicle from Gibraltar to the DC [Washington] area. TGS USA was the local interface with the shipping companies, vendors, hotels and US transportation authorities. We also contacted existing and potential customers to advise them of the upcoming event. As the event fell the week after our National Holiday July 4th, we wanted to allow people the time to make plans to attend this event.

From a U.S. point of view, do you think the event was beneficial for our American customers?
This event was absolutely beneficial from an American point of view. As stated above, there is no substitute for face to face contact. Due to the economic downturn, many organizations have cut travel budgets and US customers are not able to travel to Europe and the Mid East for shows (for example, DIHAD exhibition in Dubai). This gave the American customer base a chance to meet the Gibraltar staff and see one of our more popular vehicles, the Hardtop HZJ78 - 13 seater. TGS having such a large presence at the Aid & Trade Show, especially during these harsh economic times, sent the message that we continue to be in a strong position and that we value what the American base has to say.

Could you describe a typical day at this event?
Members of our team were always available at the stand to attend to visitors and provide information. However, we also scheduled time to meet one-on-one with customers/visitors when requested. Team members also visited vendor stands and attended sessions. It was well organised so that we always had the right number of team members available at the stand to accommodate visitors.

What was your main objective during this event, and do you feel this objective was met?
The US office had two objectives for this year’s event: (1) to allow the current and potential US customer base the ability to meet the TGS team and (2) to meet potential new clients. Both of these objectives were clearly met.

Do you think it would be a good idea to have the Aid & Trade Exhibition held in the U.S. on an annual basis?
From the US office perspective, it would be fantastic if the event were held in the States on an annual basis. However, this may not be fair to organisations around the world that may want to attend.