GGRAsia – Organisers introducing new features for G2E Asia 2015

Organisers introducing new features for G2E Asia 2015

Jan 15, 2015 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

The programme for the casino industry trade show and conference Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia 2015 was announced at a press conference in Macau on Thursday. The event itself will be held from May 19 to 21 in CotaiExpo at the Venetian Macao.

In keeping with the mood of the times, there will be a big focus during this year’s event on non-gaming including a return of last year’s ‘Interior Design and Decor Forum’, designed to highlight how venue design can help drive more customers to a location and keep them there. There will also be a debut for the ‘Macau International Clubbing Show’ highlighting products and services of the nightclub and bar sector.

A feature likely to be of interest to longstanding exhibitors from the casino technology sector is what co-organiser Reed Exhibitions describes as a “highly targeted” business matching service, which the company brands as the ‘one2one Event for IT Solutions’.

“This [targeted business matching] is something unique that Reed Exhibitions is introducing all over the world,” explained Josephine Lee (pictured), senior vice president of Reed Exhibitions Greater China, in a presentation to the media.

“It helps our customers – as exhibitors – to ensure they are able to meet very targeted and pre-qualified buyers. We have a very rigid screening process, that identified buyers with [active] buying lists in the next 15 months,” she stated. She explained it would help exhibitors maximise return on their investment in the show.

She added: “It also ensures that the visitors will find the right solutions and find the right suppliers before they leave [our] Macau [show]. That is a very good way to accelerate sales…as well as a very effective way to help build business contacts.”

Other features for G2E Asia 2015 – an event which is also organised by the American Gaming Association – include ‘My G2E Asia Network’, a mobile communications application, that promises to help vendors and buyers connect even before they get to the show.

The Macau Pavilion, introduced last year and aimed at showcasing Macau suppliers, will be expanded in 2015. There will also be a ‘New Product Gallery’ on the G2E Asia website, which will then be replicated live on the exhibition floor with the actual products on display.

This year will additionally see the introduction of the ‘All Asia Dealer’s Championship’, designed to show the “best performing and outstanding casino dealers in Asia”. It will be a three-day competition happening on-site.

Ms Lee said there was a 43 percent year-on-year increase in international visitors in the 2014 edition of G2E Asia and a 47 percent increase in conference attendees, which she described as “very encouraging”.

In 2015 there will also be a one-day iGaming summit. The organisers are also launching an online iGaming Forum due to be fully operative in March.

On the sidelines of the event, GGRAsia asked Ms Lee whether the downturn in the Macau gambling sector made it harder to justify two casino trade shows in Macau. The rival Macao Gaming Show and Macao Gaming Summit, organised by the Macau Gaming Equipment Manufacturers Association, will have its third edition in November.

She told us: “In the end our customers make the choice. If they think G2E Asia doesn’t do a good job, it will disappear or become smaller…We just focus on doing a good job, in order to enhance the quality of our event.”