A new edition of London show opens its doors today

Organizers expect more than 25,000 visitors, with online gaming and releases of great slot manufacturers as the main attractions of the show.

ATEI and International Gaming Expo, incorporating ICE and ICEi, will have a combined base of exhibitors of around 400 companies from 50 nations, which will exhibit the latest in entertainment, gaming, betting, as well as products and services related to remote gaming.

Until yesterday, more than 10,000 people had subscribed to participate in the International Gaming Expo which is being held from today until next Thursday in the facilities of Earls Court Centre in London.

The international character of the event is shown in some remarkable figures: Without considering the organizing nation, US and and Taiwan are represented by the greatest number of exhibitors (21 each), followed by Malta (18), Germany and Austria (12 each). The Netherlands, Spain and Slovenia have 10 and Swede has 9. While Croatia has 5, Belgium, Latvia, Russia and Serbia have 4 each, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Japan and Poland all have 3 representatives.

Although the international financial crisis seems to have curbed some big international developments and destabilize the financial numbers of even the most important manufacturers, all the companies participating in IGE arrived in London with their maximum potential. Even for the expo organizers, the depreciation of the pound compared to the dollar and the euro has increased the quantity of subscriptions by buyers based out of the UK.

With regards to this issue, Karen Cooke, Chief of Exhibitions of Clarion Gaming, explained: “Year after year, the euro and the dollar have been increasing their value considerably regarding the sterling pound. In January 2008 the pound had a value of 1.35 Euros and 2 dollars in the area. Twelve months later, its worth is 1.1 Euros and 1.5 dollars. In real terms, visitors that bring US dollars have a 25% more purchasing power than at the beginning of 2008, and in euros, it is almost 20%.

Then he added: “With more budget, we believe that we will count with the assistance of new companies, and that current delegations of visitors will ring other colleagues, that will also stay more days.”

Compared to previous editions, organizers are optimistic and expect to break new records: Clarion Gaming revealed that the event will be a 40% bigger than the latest edition and a 75% larger than in 2007. What’s more: the 39% of the total base of exhibitors are debutants.

Charlotte Skinner, Marketing Manager of Clarion, declared that the biggest interest in online gaming has increased the assistance to the event, that a year ago brought 2,861 professionals from 68 jurisdictions. “Internet is certainly the gaming platform of the moment,” said Skinner.

Besides, Peter Rusbridge, CEO of Clarion Gaming, commented that, for IGE 2009, the expectations of organizers are “solid and positive. This is the debut of International Gaming Expo that we believe represents the most important exhibition of gaming products, services and providers worldwide. We are very excited regarding the forecasts and the feedback of visitors that we know will travel from all parts of the world.”

Finally, with regards to the particular economic and financial moment that the world is living, Rusbridge said that “It is in times of uncertainty when the real value of exhibitions is shown. A few people in the business may predict how will 2009 be developed, and the only certainty seems to be uncertainty. Anyway, the best brains, the most experimented operators and the most successful people in the gaming industry will assist to IGE, and it is in this environment where the respective industries will find the way to evolve.”