Coverings 2011 Moves to Vegas
National Trade Productions (NTP), the manager/producer of the annual stone-and-tile show, announced last week that that the 2011 edition will take place at the Sands Convention Center on March 14-17, moving the show up from its planned Los Angeles opening in April.
A news release from NTP announcing the change noted that show organizers “jumped at the chance to make the switch to Las Vegas when the opportunity presented itself.”
Jennifer Hoff, NTP president of events, said that, “Coverings has had its eye on Las Vegas for years, so we’re thrilled that the show will be going to this truly singular city earlier than we had anticipated.
“Given Las Vegas’ unrivaled status as the No. 1 venue for some of the world’s leading conventions and trade shows, we have no doubt that Coverings 2011 will rank as one of our most successful and memorable shows ever.”
The move puts Coverings in Las Vegas less than seven weeks after the next StonExpo/Marmomacc Americas, set to run concurrently with the Surfaces 2011 trade show on Jan. 25-28 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.
Surfaces, sponsored by the World Floor Covering Association, is a Hanley Wood Exhibitions event traditionally held in late January at the Sands; the show will be moving to Mandalay Bay in 2011.
Mandalay Bay also hosted the inaugural International Countertop Expo (ICE) last week. The International Surface Fabricators Association, ICE’s owner/producer, is still considering the dates and location for next year’s event.
NTP announced last July that it would be holding Coverings in Los Angeles in April 2011, after holding the last two odd-numbered-year shows in Chicago. Coverings’ base in even-numbered years is Orlando, where the event will appear this April 27-30.
In making the original Los Angeles announcement, NTP noted the event’s origin in the West Coast metropolis in 1989, followed by two other early shows in Anaheim, Calif.
“In Las Vegas, we have the best of everything: an incomparable resort city that’s not only an easy commute from the West Coast, but also a top draw for those from all over the country, and indeed the rest of the world,” Hoff said.
In late 2007, NTP had announced an invitation-only L.A. Boutique version of Coverings, to be held in Long Beach, Calif. in November 2008. In May 2008, however, Coverings’ board of directors postponed the event, and it wasn’t rescheduled.
Coverings is sponsored by ASCER (Ceramic Tile Manufacturers Association of Spain), Confindustria Ceramica (Italian Association of Ceramics), Tile Council of North America (TCNA), Ceramic Tile Distributors Association (CTDA), and National Tile Contractors Association (NTCA).