Expanding ICE attracts faster flow of exhibitors

The 2004 International Casino Exhibition (ICE) is already looking like a sell-out event with six months still remaining until the doors open at London’s Earls Court Exhibition Centre. Show organisers, ATE have declared that sales of ICE floor space are at a very advanced stage, already four months ahead of the same amount recorded for last January’s event.

The move from Earls Court 1 Level 1 to Earls Court 2 will result in net floor space increasing from 7,500 square metres (80,700 sq.ft.) to 10,000 sq.m. (107,600 sq.ft.) at ICE 2004. “Even with a third more exhibition space available, the uptake has reached unprecedented levels,” stated sales manager, Karen Cooke. “And if the demand continues, it is inevitable that we will have to initiate a waiting list for companies that haven’t yet confirmed their space.”

Cooke believes that there are a number of factors responsible for the intensified interest in ICE: “The move downstairs has enabled us to repackage the show with a more uniform layout and a unique, dedicated entrance for casino professionals. Ground level access will also facilitate a quicker and easier build-up, enabling exhibitors to create more imaginative stands with the capability of showing a wider and more varied range of product,” she said. “Of course, the prospect of looming deregulation in the UK and year-on-year improvements in the quantity and quality of buyers who come to ICE are also key factors in the show’s continual development.”

At the beginning of July there were no fewer than 104 companies from 26 nations having confirmed their presence at ICE 2004, occupying a total area covering 8,850 sq.m. (95,226 sq.ft.). These included 33 UK-based organisations, eight each from the USA and the Netherlands, seven from Spain, five from Slovenia, four each from Austria, Belgium, Canada, France and Germany, three each from Australia and Italy, two each from Japan, Russia and Sweden and one each from Cyprus, Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, Israel, Malta, Monaco, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, and South Africa.

For more information on ICE 2004, visit www.ATEOnline.co.uk/ICE or contact Karen Cooke on (t) +44 (0) 20 7713 0302; (e) kcooke@ateonline.co.uk