Sexpo By The Numbers

As featured in the Budgeting & Spending section of bigpondmoney.com.au

From The Home Show to The Motor Show, our top annual exhibits bring in millions of dollars of revenue for the capital cities of Australia, providing a boon to local hospitality sectors as hungry and tired attendees spend up big at hotels, restaurants and local bars.

While homes and cars are standard fare, you might be surprised to learn that an adult-entertainment show now shares the top three list with The Royal Melbourne Show and the Home Show in Victoria.

Rob Godwin, General Manager of Sexpo, says the way Sexpo has approached the adult entertainment business from a female-friendly, fun entertainment angle rather than as a porn-fest, is what sets it apart.

Sexpo started quietly in Melbourne in 1995, teamed with its sister company, Club X, but has since grown to tour five capital cities in Australia annually, with regional shows in Townsville. And since each show costs on average $1.6million to produce, that’s a lot of money flowing through the Australian economy.

Five years ago Sexpo started touring South Africa, and now the USA, Russia and Germany are demanding their own Sexpo in 2012, which will contribute millions of dollars as an export product.

Although Melbourne and Sydney have a typical 60 000 through the doors when the show is on, last year’s Perth Sexpo topped the revenue scale even though attendance was lower, and also despite a supposed recession from the mining boom.

“Not a lot of big shows go to Perth, and we only tour Perth every two years, so the demand is there. But mainly I think it’s the higher level of disposable income which meant the average spend per head was around $300 per person. They were purchasing top-end adult toys and lots of them.”

From a purely economic point of view, Sexpo is an Australian business success story. Where the adults-only industry was once something only talked about behind closed-doors, Sexpo has become a rite of passage for 18 year-olds much like schoolies week on the Gold Coast. And where once adults only tours were marketed at men in trench-coats, Rob now proudly proclaims that females make up 49 per cent of attendees.

The show highlights sex education and awareness, keeps the entertainment fun and varied (from Harley Davidson stunt teams to Burlesque classes), hires well-known Australian comedians to EmCee, and despite common misconceptions, X-rated DVD’s aren’t on display, again keeping the audience of predominantly heterosexual couples, happy.

Entering into the Political realm, the Sydney Sexpo in March even held over 50 gay marriage ceremonies.

Sexpo is also often used as a brand launching pad for products in the adults-only realm. Rob recalls one particular launch where Sexpo gave away a $25, 000 gold-plated hand-made Lelo vibrator.

“We had to have it under security guard at the show.”

Rob says the key to Sexpo’s success has been eliminating the image of adult entertainment as a pornfest.

“Sexpo is basically entertainment with relaxed shopping. I believe if you can attract the females, you won’t get many of their partners saying ‘no’. And most of the fun begins after Sexpo, anyway.”

Sexpo by the numbers:

• The Australian-owned Sexpo brand is the largest adult show in the world, and has been touring Johannesburg South Africa for five years, with 60, 000 attendees last year alone.
• Exhibitors come from every state of Australia as well as the UK, USA, Sweden, Germany and Asia.
• 49 per cent of attendees are female
• The biggest spending market is 25-35 year-olds, with the average spend per head roughly $150
• Research through the Eros Association indicated in Melbourne alone, where over 60, 000 people attended the 2010 show, Sexpo brought $8 million to the Victorian economy
• In the capital cities, 30 per cent of Sexpo attendees come from intrastate
• The average person stays at Sexpo for around 3 hours
• The most popular show at Sexpo is the Amateur Strip Show
• Each Sexpo show employs 1500 staff, has over 290 exhibitor ‘stands’
• Sexpo has around 140 Australian year-round staff
• Sexpo spends around $150 000 per show on domestic and international flights for staff and international acts, and buys around 400 bed nights in local hotels
• Sexpo offers free exhibitor space to supported charities such as the MS Society, the Salvation Army, The Mc Grath Foundation, HIV awareness and anti sex-trafficking and awareness campaigns..

To see the full article, visit http://www.bigpondmoney.com.au/sexpo-by-the-numbers