Where do you want future ICE and iGB Affiliate conferences to be held? GPWA MEMBER POLL Earlier this year, Clarion Gaming announced that it is considering moving the annual ICE and iGB Affiliate conferences from its longtime home in London to a new location. The shortlist of cities being considered, in addition to a return to London, are Barcelona, Madrid and Paris. Each city made a formal bid to host the event between 2025 and 2029 and an announcement is expected to be made later this year. Clarion Events’ Group Managing Director of Gaming, Alex Pratt, said that factors such as “capacity, facilities and the ability to accommodate future growth would be considered, as well as dateline availability, transport links and broader hospitality infrastructure, including accommodation costs.” We asked our GPWA members which city they would prefer to see ICE and iGB land in beginning in 2025, and the majority of respondents appear to have a soft spot in their hearts for London with 54% saying they would prefer to see the events stay put. Paris, on the other hand, saw no such love, with zero respondents choosing the City of Light. The complete results are listed below along with a sampling of some of our members’ comments. For more details regarding this poll and to view all of the feedback, visit gpwa.org/460. Comments from GPWA members Pokerface PUBLIC MEMBER London is perfectly fine and it would be difficult to find a venue with the same space elsewhere. In fact, ExCel London is expanding to a third phase, which I am sure could be utilized for a larger ICE/LAC when completed. wonderpunter PRIVATE MEMBER Madrid has way less traffic, better transport, less crime, better weather, cheaper and central, IFEMA Madrid is as big as ExCel and the nightlife is great for those that like to party. newcustomeroffer PUBLIC MEMBER I might be wrong, but I wonder if they’d get the same level of attendance if they moved it from London? It was as busy as I’ve ever seen this year, maybe a bounce back from the pandemic-affected years, but, even so, Clarion must have been delighted. G P W A t i m e s . o r g 12 0%Paris 13%Barcelona 33%Madrid 54%London
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