Asian attendance at LV show drops; SARS cited

Monday, April 14, 2003 | 11:23 a.m.

Attendance is expected to be off for the annual NetWorld+Interop computer convention in Las Vegas later this month, with the number of Asian delegates projected to plunge 90 percent as SARS and economic problems limit international travel.

The six-day NetWorld+Interop show opens at the Las Vegas Convention Center April 27 and pre-registration statistics project attendance at 30,000, down from the 40,000 that attended last year. About 2,200 international delegates from Asia participated last year, but less than 250 have signed up for this year's show.

Officials with Key3Media Group Inc., producer of the show, said there are a number of reasons for the predicted sharp drop in attendance from Japan, Korea and Taiwan, the primary sources of overseas delegates for the show, which focuses on computer networking.

Key3Media Senior Vice President Mike Millikin said jitters over wartime travel and the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) disease sweeping Hong Kong, Singapore and parts of China are partially to blame. The economy in Asia, particularly in the high-tech sector, continues to sputter and Key3Media also is operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, although the company expects to emerge within two months.

Key3Media Group Inc., based in Los Angeles, also produces the annual Comdex show in Las Vegas, one of the largest computer industry trade shows in the nation.

"I don't want to jinx things, but I think there are a number of indicators that show that things are going to start getting better," Millikin said in a telephone interview.

Millikin said that although his company is tracking attendance at 30,000, NetWorld+Interop last year had one of its largest onsite registrations in history with about 11,000 people arriving for the show without prior reservations.

He also said that with the show still two weeks away, events are occurring that could result in a better turnout. With the war in Iraq waning and the public better coming to grips with the SARS outbreak, he's hoping some of the fear to travel will dissipate.

Millikin also said the company routinely has an open house in Silicon Valley to preview the NetWorld show for executives and this year's open house had "twice the number of people we have ever had" with 150 turning out.

"I don't have a clue why so many people attended, but we're hoping it's an indication that the IT (information technology) industry is starting to come back," Millikin said.

Michael Hughes, director of research services for Tradeshow Week, a trade publication that covers the convention and meetings industry, concurred that while NetWorld+Interop attendance is likely to be off, particularly from Asian delegates, that things are likely to get better by November when Key3Media Group has its showcase event in Las Vegas, Comdex.

"If I were an exhibitor, I would consider that for shows that are even a month out, that things are likely to change," Hughes said. "I would assume that for awhile, international attendance would be very small to non-existent. But Comdex is far enough away (in November) that international events and SARS could be under control. The good news is that once SARS is contained and events in Iraq wrap up, conventions and trade shows should have a solid comeback."

He also said Key3Media Group also should be helped by its announcements that it would emerge from bankruptcy protection within two months.

Hughes' analysis already seems to be playing out.

While NetWorld+Interop is expecting its poor showing, planners of events specifically for exhibitors from Asia later on Las Vegas's convention calendar say they haven't considered cancelling or postponing meetings.

Nancy Murphy, who heads meeting sales for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said there have been no meeting cancellations associated with the war or the SARS scare. She said she is keeping in contact with the Associated Surplus Dealers/Associated Merchandise Dealers, Los Angeles, which is scheduled to bring 50,000 people to a show at the Sands Expo Center Aug. 10-14. The purpose of the show is display products to dealers and retailers and many of the exhibitors represent companies in Asia.

Meanwhile, a rival show to ASD/ASM, the Kenfair Asian Expo, will have its inaugural U.S. event during the same dates at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.

Contacted via e-mail, the Hong Kong-based organizers of the show say they hope to build on the success of a similar show launched in London.

"In view of our show to be held in mid-August, which is still four months away, we think that the Iraqi war and the SARS crisis are expected to be over and things will start picking up," said Carli Chiang of Kenfair. "We have no immediate plan to cancel or reschedule our Las Vegas Asian Expo."

Chiang said because the event is new, the company is not projecting how many would attend, but it has a database of 300,000 target buyers.

"We would like to say it is a show to complement, rather than be in direct competition with the ASD/AMD show," Chiang said. "We are trying to offer to buyers more products (from which) to choose."