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The organizers of the popular Outdoor Retailer trade show are asking for feedback on possibly moving the event out of Denver, although they emphasized such polling is standard procedure.

Outdoor Retailer is produced by Emerald Expositions and sponsored by the Outdoor Industry Association, with the trade show remaining a major source of revenue for the association. Emerald typically holds a summer show and a separate winter Snow Show, but the most recent in-person events were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The summer show is scheduled to return in August while the next Snow Show is scheduled for January, The Denver Post reported.

Outdoor Retailer moved from Salt Lake City to Denver in 2018 in protest of what organizers viewed as a lack of support for public lands protection by Utah's political leaders. Now that the event's five-year contract for Denver will soon expire, Emerald is exploring its venue options.

An online questionnaire sent to 50,000 past attendees asks them to rank Denver alongside five other cities that could host the event, including Salt Lake City. The other choices are Houston, Las Vegas, Orlando and Anaheim, Calif., according to the Post. Emerald noted the summer and winter shows could be held in separate cities.

Show director Marisa Nicholson told the newspaper that such surveys are common when a venue's contract nears its end. "We're not looking to be disruptive. We're looking to make sure that the event supports our customers," she said.

Visit Denver, the metro area's nonprofit tourism organization and marketing agency, declined to comment on the survey when contacted by the Post, although CEO Richard Scharf said in a statement that he looks forward to future Outdoor Retailer events in Denver.

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