Numbers Take Another Dive in March
Heidi Genoist -- Tradeshow Week, 5/15/2008 2:49:00 PM
After a brief comeback in February, convention visitor statistics dropped again in March, according to the monthly Executive Summary by the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority.
Attendance of 637,755 at conventions held in March 2008 was down 6.6 percent, compared with the 682,824 who attended conventions here in March 2007.
There are two clues about what might have happened: March saw an even sharper drop in the number of conventions held – 16 percent year-over-year – yet CONEXPO-CON/AGG, the largest tradeshow ever held in North America, took place in Las Vegas in March, drawing 144,600 attendees.
What does it mean?
“The decrease (in the total number of meetings held) in March was related to both a decrease in smaller meetings, but also a mix of some larger shows that were scheduled in February this year versus last year,” said Kevin Bagger, LVCVA director of Internet marketing and research. He added that this happened, in part, because CONEXPO’s lengthy move-in pushed some shows to other months.
Las Vegas Hospitality Expo, Intl. Wireless Communications Expo and the Photo Marketing Assn. Intl. Annual Convention & Trade Show – each drawing between 10,000 and 25,000 attendees – were all moved to February in 2008, whereas they were held in March last year.
Hence, for the entire first quarter, convention attendance was only down by 1 percent.
While the news doesn’t equal a bad outlook for the big tradeshow market, it doesn’t bode well for the Authority’s wallet.
At a regular meeting of the LVCVA board of directors last week, Vice President of Finance Brenda Siddall said the Authority had instituted a hiring freeze and restrictions on certain kinds of travel because room taxes in February and March had not met expectations.
The economic impact of shows in March was down nearly 9 percent, compared with last year. For the first quarter, it was down 7 percent, again the result of a 12.6-percent decline in the number of conventions held.
