IPW Sees Record Attendance, Vegas On A Roll

This year’s IPW trade show in Orlando has shattered all previous attendance records, according to US Travel Association chief Roger Dow.

He announced Tuesday that more than 6,500 delegates from 74 countries had registered for the four-day show. The total included 550 journalists, he said.

Dow told a press briefing that travel and tourism is so important to the US economy that every household in America would have to pony up $1,147 a year to make up for what international visitors spend there. He added that 15 million jobs would disappear without the international segment.

Vegas on a roll

Las Vegas is on a visitation roll. The destination counted a record 41.1 million arrivals last year, while its 150,000 hotel rooms were 86.8% full.

According to convention and visitors authority marketing senior VP Kathy Tull, $9 billion is being invested in new properties over the next three years. And she noted that the Las Vegas Convention Center will be growing, with an additional 750,000-square-feet of exhibition space being added.

NYC

New York City’s goal of 55 million visitors was achieved one year early last year. So NYC & Company, the city’s marketing partnership has set a new target of 67 million arrivals a year by 2021.

The push has been branded as the “Road to 10 Million More Visitors” and, as the most visited destination in the US by international travellers, the city is looking to the inbound segment to play a big role in achieving the new goal.