Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | February 2014 30 Insights I n her 21 years developing and organizing trade shows in the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong native Josephine Lee has observed Macau’s phenomenal growth from a front-row seat. As senior vice president of Reed Exhibitions she has been instrumental in sustaining the event giant as a force in the region’s MICE markets. She helped found Reed Exhibitions Greater China a decade ago with offices in Beijing and Shanghai, and today oversees an extensive portfolio of events that includes G2E Asia, the region’s largest gaming industry trade show and conference, which Reed produces in partnership with the American Gaming Association. Looking ahead to its return to The Venetian Macao from the 20th through the 22nd of May, she sat down recently with Inside Asian Gaming to talk about how the 2014 edition, the largest yet, is shaping itself to serve the rapidly changing needs of the world’s most dynamic gaming markets. IAG: What are the most pressing needs the marketplace is communicating to you heading into this year’s show? How will G2E Asia 2014 address them? Ms Lee: The audience is expecting more diversity in our content. This includes cutting-edge solutions and technologies to help drive their businesses and cope with the realities of expansion. On top of our core gaming sector, visitors would like to see more exhibitors on the floor in areas such as business solutions, entertainment, interior design and materials. I believe this is in response to the expansion of gaming across Asia. In addition, since G2E Asia is a major platform, our audience would like to be able to do more networking during the show. For many of them this is the most important opportunity they get to meet the who’s who in the region. So we are investing in more tools and on-site activities to facilitate this need. It’s interesting that you mention expansion. As this evolves into a broader, more varied resort model, with the non-gaming side becoming increasingly more important, what does it imply for the future of the show? Quite a lot, it would seem. Definitely. In order to stay on top of trends, especially in Macau, we engage in constant dialogue with key industry stakeholders. In light of the upcoming gaming license renewals in 2020 and the Macau government’s commitment to fostering Macau’s image as a family- oriented destination rather than as a gaming market, we’ll see a building boom for the next 10 years or so. We identified the needs of this broader non-gaming resort market quite a few years back through our conversations with the stakeholders, and it has been part of our long-term plan to ensure comprehensive coverage of a On With the Show Visitors and exhibitors will find plenty of new things to see —and even more new things to do—at G2E Asia 2014 “In light of the upcoming gaming license renewals in 2020 and the Macau government’s commitment to fostering Macau’s image as a family- oriented destination rather than as a gaming market, we’ll see a building boom for the next 10 years or so. We identified the needs of this broader non-gaming resort market quite a few years back through our conversations with the stakeholders, and it has been part of our long-term plan to ensure comprehensive coverage of a broader spectrum of services.”