the November 2009 Issue in PDF Format - Trade Show Executive

Trade Show Executive
Annual Report on Exhibition Facilities with 100,000 sq ft. or Less of Prime Exhibit Space
It Adds Up:
Smaller Venues Make Up Bulk
of U.S. Convention Centers
By Nicole Burnes, assistant editor
The number of North American
convention centers offering 100,000
square feet or less of prime exhibit
space fell to 126 in 2009 after four
facilities completed expansion programs.
Bigger is seen as better to venue
managers and their civic partners who
have an eye on bringing larger events
to town. At the same time, the smaller
venues continue to play a valuable role in
the industry by offering space for smallscale
trade shows and corporate events.
Their advantages often include lower
rates and hotel prices, as well as the
flexibility for a variety of events. Their
location in smaller cities can mean that
the show taking place at any particular
time will be the biggest event in town.
This year, 126 buildings with
100,000 square feet or less of prime
exhibit space were listed in the Trade
Show Executive directory of the World’s
Top Convention Centers (WTCC). That
equals 44% of the 289 facilities listed
and 14% of the total square footage
of all of the WTCC venues.
The average square footage
for smaller convention centers is
73,406. That is slightly larger than
The Renaissance Montgomery Hotel
& Spa at the Convention Center in
Montgomery, AL, the facility closest to
the average.
There are 108 such convention centers
in the U.S., 12 in Mexico and 6 in Canada.
Following are more details on North
American venues with 100,000 square
feet or less of prime exhibit space.
Snapshot:
Convention Centers with 100,000 Square Feet or Less of Prime Exhibit Space
• There are 126 convention centers with 100,000 square feet
or less of prime exhibit space in the U.S., Canada & Mexico:
• 108 in the U.S.
• 6 in Canada
• 12 in Mexico
• They represent 43.6% of the 289 facilities listed in TSE’s
2009 directory of the World’s Top Convention Centers
(WTCC).
• Those centers with 100,000 square feet or less of prime
exhibit space have a total square footage of 9,249,117. Their
space represents only 13.9% of the total square footage of
the venues listed in the WTCC.
• Facilities in the United States with 100,000 square feet or less
of prime exhibit space account for 7,986,084 square feet, or
over 86% of the 9,249,117 square feet available from venues
of the same size in all of North America.
• For North American facilities with 100,000 square feet or less
of prime exhibit space, the average square footage of prime
exhibit space is 73,406.
• The facility that best represents the average square footage for
those venues is The Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa at the
Convention Center in Montgomery, AL, with 73,000 square feet.
• The median prime exhibit space for the North American
facilities listed is 72,000 square feet.
• The two buildings on the list that match the median square feet
of prime exhibit space are Disney’s Contemporary Resort in
Lake Buena Vista, FL, and the Lansing Center in Lansing, MI.
• There are 19 facilities that represent the North American
mode exhibit space, with 50,000 square feet. Only 13 facilities
offer 100,000 square feet.
• Also listed in this report are four new builds scheduled to
come on-line in 2010 and early 2011. The new convention
centers will add 261,000 square feet of exhibit space,
bringing the total square footage for North American venues
with 100,000 square feet or less of prime exhibit space to
9,510,117 square feet.
• The Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas in Irving, TX will
add 50,000 square feet
• The Cosmopolitan Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, NV will add
75,000 square feet
• The Ottawa Convention Centre in Ottawa, ON will add
56,000 square feet
• The Niagara Convention & Civic Centre in Niagara Falls, ON
will add 80,000 square feet
38 November 2009 Trade Show Executive www.TradeShowExecutive.com