[dragonsky]

After New Year’s, the next big show in Las Vegas is CES

This year will be the biggest CES ever with 2.5 million square feet of exhibit space. Most conventions and trade shows measure their success on how much real estate they can lease rather than by how many people show up. But CES is no slouch for attendance, the number that grabs Las Vegas’ attention, with somewhere between 165,000 and 175,000 people planning to be here Jan. 5-8.

The exhibit space for this year’s CES will be in record territory, thanks to the city’s tourism leaders anticipating growth not only for this show but for others that are expanding. There also are show producers who want to stage their shows in Las Vegas but can’t as they can’t elbow their way onto the convention calendar because of prior agreements with other shows and date commitments.

To MGM Resorts International’s credit, that company saw the trends coming and moved to expand its convention center at Mandalay Bay and convert a theater that once housed the Cirque du Soleil show “Zarkana” at Aria into convention space.

The LVCVA made its move by announcing a plan to acquire the Riviera, knock it down and then provide additional space for outdoor exhibits before developing plans for a new exhibit hall.

The authority is just about to wrap up Phase 1 of the plan, imploding two Riviera towers over the summer and sweeping everything up for outdoor exhibit use.

CES will be the first show to take advantage of the new space.

A newly striped parking lot where the Riviera’s buildings once stood, designated as the Diamond Lot by the LVCVA, will be available for parking.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/busines...-las-vegas-ces