NSC Bound for Atlanta After Record-Breaking Show
About 1,000 exhibitors and more than 14,000 attendees made the 2014 Congress & Expo an event to remember.
SAN DIEGO -- It won't be easy for the National Safety Council to top its 2014 Congress & Expo, which closed its record-breaking run on Sept. 19. About a thousand exhibitors and more than 14,000 attendees participated.
Next stop: Atlanta, where the 2015 conference will take place Sept. 26 to Oct. 2 and the expo will be open Sept. 28-30.
The Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau reported last month that it had attracted 25 new and returning large conventions for future years by the close of 2014's second quarter, about twice as many as were sold the year before. Those 25 events represent more than 500,000 hotel room nights and an estimated 800,000 attendees. "Our commitment to growing attendance in Atlanta draws first-time and return clients alike," said Mark Vaughan, executive vice president and chief sales officer of ACVB. "During the first half of 2014, we've seen 18 out of 20 conventions exceed or meet their attendance goals, and it's this performance that results in new and repeat sales."
According to the bureau, more than $1.5 billion in new retail, hotel, and attractions offerings are opening in Atlanta during 2014, with most of the development concentrated near the Georgia World Congress Center, which is the fourth-largest convention center in North America, with 1.4 million square feet of exhibit space and 12 exhibit halls.
New downtown Atlanta attractions include the Center for Civil and Human Rights and a College Football Hall of Fame.
Atlanta ranked fourth on Cvent's list of the top 50 cities for meetings and events in the United States for 2014, according to the bureau.