Friday, April 29, 2005 | 11:12 a.m.
Las Vegas widened the competitive gap against rival convention hosts, maintaining its 19 percent market share of the nation's 200 major shows while No. 2 Chicago fell behind.
The Tradeshow Week 200 index for 2004, released Thursday by Tradeshow Week magazine, shows Las Vegas has continued to be the dominant player in the conventions, meetings and trade show industry, hosting 38 of the top 200 shows.
That's the same total it hosted in 2003. Chicago slid to a tie for the No. 2 destination with Orlando, Fla., with 18 major shows compared with 27 a year earlier.
Carri Jensen, editor of directory publications for Tradeshow Week, a publication that monitors the conventions and meetings industry, said while Chicago may have lost some of its shows to rivals, it may also have been the victim of an off-cycle rotation in which major shows that change venues from year to year weren't in Chicago in 2004.
While Las Vegas maintained its ranking by number of shows hosted in 2004, it increased its market share of square footage sold. Of the top 200 shows, Las Vegas provided 18.5 million net square feet, a 29.1 percent share. That compares with 17 million square feet, a 27.4 percent share, a year earlier.
Rounding out the top 10 convention cities by number of top-200 shows hosted were New York City (14), New Orleans (12), Atlanta (9), Dallas, San Francisco and Anaheim, Calif. (8 each) and Rosemont, Ill. (7).
Freeman Decorating Co., Dallas, was the leading service contractor for the top 200 shows, with 94 in 2004, followed by Las Vegas-based GES Exposition Services with 53, the publication said.
Tradeshow Week, which ranks its shows by square footage and not attendance, said the International Consumer Electronics Show, hosted by the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Las Vegas Hilton and the Alexis Villas resort in January, continued to be the nation's top show. Of the top 10 shows, six are staged in Las Vegas and 11 of the top 25 are here.
The top shows in Las Vegas after CES are the Specialty Equipment Market Association auto show in November at the Las Vegas Convention Center, No. 4; the World Shoe Association fall show in August at Mandalay Bay Convention Center and the Sands Expo Center, No. 5; the MAGIC Marketplace fall show in August at the Convention Center, No. 6; the World Shoe Association spring show in February at Mandalay Bay and Sands Expo Center, No. 7; and the MAGIC Marketplace spring show in February at the Convention Center, No. 8.
The two World Shoe Association shows vaulted into the top 10 after ranking 19th and 20th in the previous year.
The National Association of Broadcasters show fell out of the top 10, dropping from eighth to 15th in 2004.
Tradeshow Week also reported that the average economic impact on host cities grew 6.4 percent from 2003 to 2004, to $29.7 million.
The publication also said March is the busiest month for shows, with 29 of the top 200 conducted then, followed by January with 26. The least-favorite month is December, with four shows, followed by July with 11.
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