Events

IMEX America 2020 Cancelled

By Matt Turner Jun 10, 2020 11:04am

IMEX America 2020, due to take place at the Sands Expo, Las Vegas from September 15-17, has been canceled, chairman Ray Bloom and CEO Carina Bauer said in a letter. It would have been the 10th anniversary of IMEX America.

There are three main reasons why IMEX Group leadership made the decision to cancel IMEX America 2020:

“First and foremost is our responsibility to our exhibitors to deliver a return on the investment they make in the show. We do this through our guarantee of delivering a high quality, large-scale hosted buyer program,” Bloom and Bauer say in the letter. “With corporate travel bans still in place and uncertainty over continued global travel restrictions, we’re sadly in no position to offer that guarantee.

“Second is the issue of timings. As industry professionals you know that a show of the scale of IMEX America doesn’t happen overnight. Our industry supply chain and the investments that our exhibitors make in the show start now. It’s therefore important that we make this decision at a time when we’re still able to reduce the risk and exposure for our exhibitors, partners and suppliers.

“Finally, IMEX America is a truly global show, with over a third of the 13,000-plus industry professionals attending from outside North America. Global travel restrictions and uncertainties around when they might be lifted make it impossible for a large proportion of our exhibitors, buyers and key industry professionals to commit to attending. And, whilst the global events industry is proudly distinct from the travel and tourism sector, nothing has demonstrated our interlinked fortunes and dependencies more keenly than the current crisis.”

IMEX Group adds that it will continue to work on its virtual PlanetIMEX platform, where “innovations and plenty of fresh activity” will come online during September and beyond.

IMEX America 2020 Cancelled

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