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ICE
expands global reach
Eighth
consecutive year of growth for London casino exhibition
London's International Casino Exhibition
(ICE) has continued its record of sustained growth
for the eighth consecutive year, with organisers
Clarion Gaming revealing the final attendance
at the 2008 show reached an all-time high of 12
972.
The
figure, comprising 10 111 unique ICE-dedicated
visitors and a further 2 861 in the co-located
remote gaming show ICEi, represents an annual
growth of 7.9 percent.
Cross-over figures also reveal a further 6 960
buyers from the co-located ATEI (soft gaming expo)
visited ICE 2008, boosting the gross attendance
to 19 932.
One
of the most remarkable statistics from the show
was the geographical spread: no fewer than 115
national territories were represented by visitors,
five more than the previous year, with five jurisdictions
? the Marshall Islands, Nicaragua, Rwanda, Tuvalu
and US Minor Outlying Islands all represented
for the first time. By including ATEI cross-overs,
visitors on the show floor combined to represent
a global audience of some 127 territories.
International
and UK-based visitor levels both grew, with the
non-UK contingent up 1.5 percent to 7 337 and
domestic visitor numbers rising 18.2 percent to
5 526.
Growth
was recorded across several geographical regions,
most notably the Far East/South East Asia whose
visitor numbers increased by 18.8 percent year-on-year
from 231 to 284. Middle Eastern and North African
representation grew by 11.2 percent to 198, with
continental Europe and the CIS up 2.4 percent
to 5 663 and Southern & Central Africa up
1.5 percent to 134.
Outside
of the United Kingdom, the USA narrowly retained
its top ranking status, with a 2.7 percent year-on-year
growth in visitor numbers taking its tally to
501. Narrowly missing out on top spot was Austria,
whose 14.0 percent increase placed the country
second with 596 visitors.
Sweden
(457 visitors) leapt into third place courtesy
of a 25.6 percent rise in attendance. The remaining
top ten overseas nations included Germany (447
visitors), Slovenia (392), Spain (387), Italy
(385), France (381), Netherlands (294) and Malta
(221).
Karen
Cooke, Clarion Gaming's Head of Exhibitions, said:
"ICE and ICEi continue to demonstrate their
huge appeal to operators from every jurisdiction
in the world, whether land-, cruise- or remotely-based.
Much of the credit for the attractive powers of
the show must go to the exhibitors who year-on-year
continue to surpass themselves in the depth and
breadth of their innovative displays."
Next
year's ICE/ICEi takes place at the Earls Court
Exhibition Centre, London, UK on 27-29 January
2009.
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