This year’s International Airport GSE Expo will again be held at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. To run between 2 and 4 October, it will be a big shop window for ground support equipment manufacturers and their products
The show is organised and managed by the International Airport Equipment Manufacturers’ Association (IAEMA) and Ground Support Worldwide. Says IAEMA board chairperson Virginia Salas: “We extended our partnership with them as a result of the success of the last show in 2016.”
The 2018 International Airport GSE Expo will build on the popularity of its predecessor. Certainly, all the numbers for this year’s event look likely to be up on those of 2016. Already booked in are more than 210 exhibitors, while about 65,000 square feet of exhibition space has been allocated at the Vegas venue. In fact, additional space had to be secured because, by the end of last year, pretty much all the indoor and outdoor space allotted had already been booked by exhibitors; further space was quickly snapped at the Rio for an expanded show.
Moreover, there is still plenty of time to attract more attendees, “We are pretty sure that we will exceed the number of visitors of two years ago,” Salas adds.
While consideration has been given to locating the event outside of Nevada, there seems to be no site that offers the same benefits. In particular, Salas says, few potential exhibition sites offer the same proximity of indoor venue space to external space. Las Vegas also has great domestic US and international flight connectivity, plus excellent weather. It’s perhaps little surprise then to hear that a contract has been signed with the Rio to hold the Expo there again in 2020.
Other changes were also considered for 2018, but the decision was taken to stay with what has proved immensely popular up till now. For example, as part of the post-show feedback process, exhibitors and attendees were asked if they would like to see conferences, symposia or similar additions to the show – and they indicated little or no interest for these potential extensions. Exhibitors can book conference rooms and such like if they want, but there seems little demand for conferences that may take people away from the core business of viewing and discussing GSE.
The geographical representation of exhibitors and attendees is widening – one of IAEMA’s targets, Salas confirms. Already, booked exhibitors include GSE manufacturers and suppliers from locations as distant as Scandinavia, Turkey, the UK and Ireland, and Thailand.
In producing the International Airport GSE Expo, IAEMA works towards its stated objective of being the voice of the GSE industry, Salas concludes. It gives back to its members in this show, while it promotes the GSE sector as a whole.
