Will CES Leave Las Vegas?

This years CES was filled with rumors of the popular show leaving Las Vegas and heading for cheaper grounds.

Show exhibitors and attendees have been complaining about the higher than normal room rates that they face when coming to CES. Some people were so feed up this year that they simply stayed home. In Fact , attendance was down 14,000 people form last year and down over 22,000 from 2006 figures.

Some Strip properties that normally charge $80 to $170 a night for rooms are asking as much as $500 to $700 a night and are requiring a three to four night minimum stay. Sarah Szabo, the Public Relations Event Manager for CES told us that they have received complaints from exhibitors and attendees regarding the increase in hotel rates, as well as food and beverage and facility costs.

It has also been reported that some of the hotels are requiring companies to reserve a set number of rooms as well as requiring a food and beverage guarantee of up to $100 per room.

What the casinos fail to realize is losing CES will have a huge impact on Las Vegas’s economy, while CES visitors may not gamble as much as the casinos like, they still pour millions of dollars into other Las Vegas businesses that eventually trickle back down to them anyway. If the hotels aren’t careful we may just lose America’s largest tradeshow to another city.

While Szabo confirmed that the International CES show will return to Las Vegas, from January 8-11, 2009, she also said that because of the size and economic stimulus represented by CES, they are often approached by other cities that would love to welcome CES. She followed up by saying that “We hope that our hotel and convention partners in Las Vegas recognize the importance of CES to Las Vegas.”