The 2007 International Casino Exhibition (ICE), which opens its doors on 23-25 January at London’s Earls Court Exhibition Centre, is on course to become the biggest and most comprehensive display of casino products and services in its 15-year history. Following the first full year under independent ownership, ICE organisers – Clarion ATE – have succeeded in growing the show by 36 per cent. In addition to occupying its established 10,000 sqm. at its Earls Court 2 home, the casino display will also cover around a quarter of the 12,500sqm. ground floor of Earls Court 1. nAll this in addition to the remainder of Earls Court 1 housing around 1,500sqm. of remote gaming exhibits in ICEi and low payout gaming products and services in ATEI. The non-payout element of ATEI (amusements, electronic leisure and ancillary equipment) is being staged on Level 1 of Earls Court 1, reached via escalators from the ground floor.

Clarion ATE’s Head of Exhibitions, Karen Cooke commented: “Restructuring of the London Show floor plans has enabled us to expand ICE to meet exhibitor demand. This has allowed an expansion of the show in three ways: firstly, existing exhibitors have been able to grow their presence for the first time in several years; secondly, we can now accommodate new companies on the show floor who have previously been turned away due to lack of space; and thirdly, a significant number of ATEI exhibitors have recognised the huge potential in the international casino market and have opted to move their stalls from the low payout arena into the burgeoning high roll market.”

Organic growth
Existing ICE exhibitors have seized the opportunity to have a greater show presence in 2007 with no fewer than 43 of the 102 returning companies opting to increase their stand size. The 44 growing companies, which collectively will take up 4,540sqm. of floor space, have increased their show footprint by a staggering 92.4%. Topping the list of expanding exhibitors, measured by the increased amount of space, is Aristocrat Technologies Europe, whose stand now weighs in at 377sqm., following the addition of 177sqm., an increase of 88.5% year on. Italian company Cinque Punto Cinque is expanding by the biggest ratio, growing by some 665.2% to 137.74sqm. The remaining top ten growing companies are Gamey Industries, to 150sqm. (+185.7%); Zest Gaming to 108sqm. (+350.5%); Amatic Industries to 242.12sqm. (+43.3%); Apex Gaming Technology to 201.96sqm. )+44.3%); Shuffle Master to 200sqm. (+42.9%); Unidesa Gaming & Systems to 260sqm. (+30%); Innovative Technology to 70sqm. (+48.3%); and Lucky Line to 120sqm. (+87.5%).

New blood
ICE 2007 will welcome 28 new companies from 19 countries to its fold. Looking to make a huge impact with its debut appearance, French company Caro Developpement is taking a substantial 201.8sqm. stand, the twelfth largest in the show. US-based KSI Corporation also makes an impressive new entry with a 125sqm.stand, closely followed by CH & L Eagle Export of Cyprus with 108.05sqm. Other sizable maiden appearances come from Slovenia (Zephyir, 90sqm.), Austria (Casinos Austria Management, 85sqm.) and Estonia (A W Neoon, 65sqm.).

More first-timers include six from the United Kingdom (Data Modul, De La Rue Cash Systems, FEE Group, Glory UK, Nice Systems and Visimetrics), three from the United States (King Cabinet Solutions, Reel Games and Western Money Systems) and two each from Canada (Nanoptix and Playtrix Research) and Israel (Stream Tech Gaming and Video Bet). The remaining debutants as of the end of October comprise Advansys (Slovenia), Avantime Amusement Technology (Latvia), Biston (Czech Republic), Contex Corporation (Japan), Lanner Electronics (Taiwan), LOT (Kazakhstan), Redsun Enterprises (South Africa), StylGame (Italy) and Telleres de Escoriaza (Spain).

Transfer market
Taking advantage of major floor plan restructuring at the London Show, no fewer than 17 companies – which previously exhibited within the ATEI (soft gaming and amusements) sector – have chosen to relocate their stands to be wholly within ICE in 2007. Leading the charge amongst this group is Italian organisation Fair Play, which is planning to fill its floor space quota of 231.35sqm. with a number of suppliers, all unified within an Italian ‘pavilion’. Zipo of Slovenia is increasing its London Show presence by over 80 per cent year-on-year and will now feature exclusively in ICE with a 144sqm. stand. Gaming machine and content developer Project Coin (88sqm. stand) heads a list of seven UK-based suppliers making the switch from ATEI to ICE, including AstroSystems, Blackpool and The Fylde College, Camlock Systems, Forge Europa, Heber and Pentranic.

ACE A&G from Korea is one of two exhibitors moving their 84sqm. stands into ICE, with Webak Elektronik Handels (Austria), and they are joined by respective compatriots Kortek Corporation (27sqm.) and Infinitygames Production (57.75sqm.). Also making the switch are Elo TouchSystems (Belgium), Industrias Lorenzo (Spain), Universal Tickets (Australia) and Zvonimir (Croatia).

Records smashed
The organisers’ latest figures, as of the end of October, reveal 164 companies drawn from 33 countries having confirmed their stand space at ICE ’07, occupying a total net area of over 12,250sqm. Adding in the ICEi contingent [36 exhibitors, 16 jurisdictions, 1,220sqm.], swells the overall numbers to 200 exhibitors from 38 territories taking 13,470sqm. of floor space. This compares with the final gross figures for 2006 of 186 exhibitors, 33 nations and 10,100sqm. respectively – and organisers are confidently predicting further substantial growth in the three months leading up to the show!

Domestic manufacturers and suppliers form the greatest proportion (29.3 per cent) of the confirmed 164 ICE exhibitors, with 48 UK-based companies signed up. US-based companies account for the largest overseas representation (18 exhibitors), followed by Spain with 11, Slovenia with 10, the Netherlands (nine), Italy (seven) and Austria (six). Australia, Belgium and France are currently each represented by five exhibitors, Russia by four, with Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic and Germany each providing three. Argentina, Israel, Japan, Korea, Latvia and South Africa will all have at least two exhibitors on the show floor, with remaining exhibitor territories including Belarus, Brazil, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Ireland, Isle of Man, Kazakhstan, Serbia & Montenegro, Slovakia, Sweden and Taiwan.

Karen Cooke concluded: “ICE has an unsurpassed reputation as the definitive casino show for doing business. It comes as no great surprise therefore that so much growth is taking place on the exhibitor side. With this growth comes the obvious benefit to operators that they can visit London and find all their needs in one place. And with so many new and existing companies offering an ever wider range of new equipment and services, it’s clear that there has never been a better time for industry professionals to attend ICE.”For more information, latest show news, exhibitor lists, floor plans, travel information and FREE entry badge registration, visit www.ice-exhibition.com (E-11.09.06)

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