“Interest in the Australasian Gaming Expo 2013 was intense”

How did you think about the show? Was it in line with your expectations?
Every year since 1990, the Australasian Gaming Expo has attracted top gaming and hospitality industry executives to the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre at Darling Harbour in New South Wales, Australia. As always we were looking forward to our 24th Gaming Expo which was held in August 2013.
With 15,000 square metres of exhibition space, it’s the largest gaming event in the Southern Hemisphere and it opened on the 13th of August with 185 exhibitors showcasing a range of hospitality related products and services in 26 categories including Audio Visual equipment, ATM Equipment, Building Services, Cash Handling & Equipment, Cleaning & Waste Services, Consultancy Services, Entertainment Systems, Flooring & Floor Coverings, Food and Beverage, Furniture, I.T., Interior Design & Fitout, Maintenance Services, Management Services, Marketing Services, Membership Management Systems, Paging & Communication Systems, Point of Sale Systems, Promotional Games & Systems, Seating & Staging Systems, Security Systems & Hardware, Signage & Displays and Staff Uniforms. So there was definitely something for everyone.
All the major Gaming Machine Manufacturers were represented including; Ainsworth Game Technology, Aristocrat Technologies, Aruze Gaming Australia, Bally Australia, IGT (Australia), Konami Australia and WMS Gaming Australia.
In terms of meeting our expectations, a quote from we leave it to a quote from one of the visitors to the Expo sums it up best: “This Year’s expo was way ahead of the last few years...Quality and presentation was excellent”.

How many visitors did you gethave you received? Where did they come from?
With someover 4,595 visitors, it was easily great to see confidence coming back into the Market-place. The Australasian Gaming Expo attracted visitors from all parts of the hospitality and gaming industry in Australia including Clubs, Hotels, and Casinos. Visitors to the Australasian Gaming Expo came from every Australian State and Territory, along with a big contingent from New Zealand and international guests from South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, Macau, China, Singapore, Taiwan and elsewhere around the Asia-Pacific region.

What mood could you perceive in the halls? In what state would you say the industry is in this year?
Interest in the 2013 expo was intense and 40 of the 185 exhibitors were first-timers at the Gaming Expo. They were part of a project where over 750 poker machines and a mountain of signage and equipment was moved in to Darling Harbour, installed, connected, tested, used and compared by the most demanding critics and then moved out again – all in only a few days. The logistics of the event are awesome, even by exhibition industry standards.

Bearing in mind feedback at the show, what changes will you introduce for 2014?
The biggest change for the 2014 Expo is the move to a new location at Glebe Island, which is located less than 2 km from the existing site. A map showing the new location is here. 

Why are you changing venue?
This location change has been brought about because the NSW Government which owns the existing facility “The Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre” at Darling Harbour, is building a new, larger facility to keep pace with demand for quality exhibition space in Sydney. So the existing Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre is being demolished to make way for this new facility. The demolition of the existing facility will commence in February 2014 and the new facility is expected to re-open towards the end of 2016.
The Glebe Island site is a temporary structure which is being built using infrastructure that was used in the recent London Olympics and with over 25,000 square metres of Exhibition Space it is expected to be every bit as good as the existing site at Darling Harbour.

What are your expectations for next year in the new exhibition centre?
The new site has some interesting features including a water frontage on three sides and a spectacular view of the Glebe Island Bridge and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. We’re expecting the Glebe Island site to be as good as the old site, with the additional benefit of having plenty
of public transport including Ferries and Shuttle Buses from the Sydney CBD.