In January, CES exceeded projections with 115,000 attendees, including 40,000 international attendees from 140 countries. Design Construction Week in February comprised five shows, including the International Builders’ Show, National Hardware Show, and Kitchen Bath Industry Show. March brought ConExpo/Con-Agg, which hosted 139,000 attendees from 33 countries and a footprint of 3 million net square feet. Up next was the second edition of Las Vegas Food and Beverage Industry Week at the end of March, made up of four shows including Bar and Restaurant Expo, International Pizza Expo, World Tea Conference + Expo and the return of SIAL America, which made its U.S. debut in Las Vegas last year.
“Las Vegas is constantly reinventing itself making us the most attractive destination for meeting and conventions organizers in the nation,” says Lisa Messina, chief sales officer for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA).
NAB Show® (National Association of Broadcasters) also celebrated 100 years when it kicked off at the LVCC. Las Vegas has a long history of hosting NAB, welcoming it for the first time in 1975 and becoming its permanent home in 1991. This year NAB welcomed more than 65,000 attendees, with more than 17,000 international attendees from 166 countries.
Last month the LVCC also kicked off a three-year, $600 million renovation to its legacy campus. The renovation will bring the sleek, contemporary architectural features of the 1.4 million square foot West Hall to the facility’s South, Central and North Halls.
The majority of construction will take place in 2024 and 2025 to accommodate the current tradeshow schedule.
Over the next year, Las Vegas will also proudly host the biggest sporting events in the world. In November Formula 1 will descend on the Las Vegas Strip for the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix, and three months later the NFL will bring Super Bowl LVIII to Allegiant Stadium. That’s in additions to state-of-the-art facilities in the MSG Sphere and Fontainebleau resort, both scheduled to open later this year.
Las Vegas never stops moving. And whether it is sports or leisure or all the meetings and conventions happening in the 15 million square feet of event space throughout the destination, we know when people come to Las Vegas, they are sure to have an experience that can only be found in Las Vegas.
