IMEX America wrapped up its 2024 version on the Mandalay Bay Conference Heart, Las Vegas. Report-breaking attendance included 15,500, of which 5,500 had been patrons who had 86,000 conferences over three days.
The Nationwide Affiliation of Comfort Shops (NACS) shared the identical venue with IMEX. It’s estimated that greater than 25,000 comfort retailer professionals had been in attendance.
The International Gaming Expo was additionally on the town October 6-9. The expo gathered over 25,000 attendees and 350 exhibitors at The Venetian Expo.
Including to the thrill within the metropolis was the implosion of the 2 towers of the enduring Tropicana early Wednesday morning in an occasion referred to as “Drop the Trop.” Sixty-seven years of Tropicana historical past had been introduced all the way down to make method for the Athletics’ proposed Las Vegas ballpark and resort complicated. The property got here down in solely 22 seconds, with fireworks and a drone present previous the implosion.
Getting across the metropolis proved tough. Not solely had been there six sizable conventions on the town, however preparations are underway for the 2024 F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, which takes place November 21-23. Some streets are closed because the monitor, grandstands, hospitality suites, lighting, and extra are put in.
Group Enterprise Necessary to Vegas
Throughout a closing press occasion, Stephanie Glanzer, chief gross sales officer and senior vp of MGM Resorts, emphasised the significance of group enterprise to the vacation spot, particularly mid-week.
As well as, Rebecca DeLuca, vp of vacation spot gross sales for the Las Vegas Conference and Guests Authority, additionally spoke on the press occasion reinforcing this message with statistics.
“The affect of conferences on Las Vegas is very large with 16 to 17 % of our 40 million guests, 6 million, who come to Las Vegas for conferences or commerce exhibits,” she mentioned. “That represents $9 billion of direct spend and $15.1 billion of financial affect.
IMEX kicked off with Sensible Monday in partnership with MPI, gathering 1,600. Skift Conferences introduced again its Innovation Lab, which featured peer-to-peer discussions about points impacting the business.
As well as, IMEX training was supplied throughout seven tracks. They included know-how and innovation, enterprise practices, affect, traits/analysis, well-being, expertise design and occasion advertising and marketing. Greater than 150 periods had been held in a big selection of gathering spots within the Inspiration Hub.
The periods included AI captions from Wordly, AI session summaries from Snapsight and shutting rap songs by Occasion Rap.
Sustainability was a spotlight of this yr’s gathering. Recyclable paper badge holders and compostable beverage cups and flatware had been featured. “Meet Inexperienced are our auditors, and we anticipate our waste diversion to be over 90 %,” mentioned Carina Bauer, CEO of IMEX.
IMEX is scheduled to be held in Mandalay Bay via 2027. When requested about plans after 2027, Bauer mentioned IMEX shall be held in Las Vegas indefinitely.
