Setting the scene for ICE extravaganza

It is all building up to the big week for the global gambling market next week with 68 countries represented on the floor of the ICE London show.

Opening next Tuesday at ExCeL, the London show will beat the previous record for the number of countries in town and with space on the floor – by three. That figure was set in 2020, the last full-scale ICE show before the pandemic. There are 633 exhibitors this year in all.

Stuart Hunter, managing director of Clarion Gaming, said:  “No other exhibition in the gaming space can come anywhere near the internationalism of ICE.

“To have 68 nations represented by our community of exhibitors means that visitors are immediately part of what is a global experience with unique access to the smartest gaming innovators drawn from every corner of the world.

“There are very few exhibitions of scale in any industry sector which are able to compare with such international representation and legitimately lay claim to being a ‘global’ or a ‘world’ event.”

He continued: “Once an event is recognised as being genuinely international, stakeholder groups including brands, regulators, trade associations, media groups and strategic industry-wide bodies focus their activities accordingly.

“Research that we’ve undertaken has shown that for many people ICE and iGB Affiliate London actually start on the Sunday preceding and finish on the following Saturday.

“In that week we estimate that over 100 gambling industry events will take place outside of the show hours, providing a new and compelling perspective on why ICE and iGB Affiliate London are so influential and important to the world industry.”

Simon Thomas, executive chairman of The Hippodrome Casino, who serves as a member of the ICE Ambassador Group of industry advisers believes that it’s no longer appropriate to see ICE as simply being a three-day live event.

He explained: “The Hippodrome serves as a networking and hospitality hub for many gaming professionals and what we’ve observed is that the industry is arriving in London a lot earlier and staying considerably longer.

“As a consequence, ICE is more than the three days on the show floor but a full week of intensive networking, events, presentations, award ceremonies, meetings and socialising.

“The phenomenal international credentials make this coming together of buyers, games creators, influencers and thought leaders into what I would describe as World Gaming Week.

“A lot of what takes place during the year in terms of industry policy, strategic alliances, partnerships, mergers/acquisitions and product launches can be traced back to conversations that occurred during the week in London.”