The 2022 IAAPA Expo got under way yesterday – at least the conference programme started - at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.
The trade show itself begins today (Tuesday) and will run through until Friday afternoon, greeting around 30,000 trade visitors from the global amusement and attractions industry through its doors.
The giant trade association, now with offices in Hong Kong, China, Brussels and Mexico in addition to its headquarters in Orlando, kicked off the 2022 event with the start of a huge conference and seminar programme. It actually began on Saturday with a session for newcomers to the FEC scene.
But it began seriously yesterday with 46 more sessions. Another 47 are scheduled for today, 51 tomorrow, 47 on Thursday with just a couple on Friday to round off the event.
Wednesday will see the announcement of the coveted Brass Rings Awards, some of which will find their way to the products presented by companies involved in the games industry. That pavilion contains 129 exhibitors, but there are another 180 in the Family Entertainment Pavilion with obvious crossovers to the amusement business.
Visitors from at least 100 different countries are expected at the show this year and the hope is that it will beat the attendance records. Last year, coming on the end of the pandemic, the show had a footfall of 27,399, but in 2019 it was as high as 42,200. Exhibitors in 2021 topped 800.
