The European Casino Association (ECA), representing over 700 casinos and 60,000 employees across 29 countries, is gearing up for a historic turnout at ICE 2025, scheduled for January 20-22 in Barcelona. This marks the first time the prestigious casino industry event will be hosted outside the UK, signaling a new era for the event with expectations of record attendance.

Barcelona to Host Landmark Casino Industry Event

ECA Secretary General Hermann Pamminger, a veteran in the casino industry since his start at Casinos Austria International in 1991, shared his excitement about the upcoming event.

“ICE has historically been a pivotal event for our industry, held in locations like London Olympia and ExCeL London. The move to Barcelona represents a significant transition to a vibrant, dynamic city that promises to bring fresh energy and a broader European perspective to our gathering,” stated Pamminger.

The decision to move ICE from the UK to Barcelona has sparked a wave of enthusiasm among ECA members. The event will occupy 120,000 square meters at The Gran Via, compared to the 100,000 sqm in previous venues in London, offering more space for the anticipated influx of professionals from across the globe.

Record Participation and Expanded Offerings

The relocation is expected to attract a larger number of casino executives and industry buyers from across Europe, drawn by the opportunity to network, engage with a world-leading content programme, and explore innovations from a record 1,000 exhibitors. These exhibitors represent a wide range of sectors and jurisdictions, showcasing the latest in technology, regulatory updates, and market opportunities.

“The feedback from our members indicates that we will see more casino industry executives than ever before at ICE, engaging with the extensive array of exhibitors and participating in sessions that span all verticals of the industry,” Pamminger added. The event will also continue to host significant meetings and events, such as the ECA Board Meeting, General Assembly, and the traditional CEO dinner, to cater to the growing needs of attendees.

A New Chapter for Europe’s Casino Industry

The move to Barcelona is viewed not just as a change in venue but as a strategic shift that could redefine the future of Europe’s land-based casino industry. With ICE 2025, the ECA aims to set a new benchmark for industry gatherings, enhancing opportunities for networking, collaboration, and innovation.

ICE and the co-located iGB Affiliate event will provide a comprehensive platform for industry professionals to gain insights into entering new markets and expanding their market share. The Gran Via’s modular and versatile Convention Centre, with seating for up to 12,000 people, is ideally suited to accommodate the expanded scale of ICE, promising a landmark event that will celebrate and catalyze growth in the casino industry.

Source:

“ICE Barcelona will host biggest participation of European casino industry professionals – predict ECA”, europeangaming.eu, May 9, 2024.

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Following last week’s news that Clarion Gaming is moving one of the largest conferences and shows in the gaming industry, the International Casino Exhibition (ICE) to Barcelona from 2025, it was reported on August 7th that Zitro, the leading slots developer with an office in Spain, supported the decision.

Sebastian Salat, Global President at Zitro, gave the following statement: “We fully support Clarion’s announcement to relocate ICE to the vibrant City of Barcelona, a destination we firmly believe is perfectly equipped to host the future editions of ICE. We believe this move will be a major step helping both ICE and the Industry to grow in partnership with the European gaming market. It will also increase the global dimension of ICE, as moving ICE to Spain will undoubtedly draw a higher number of Latin American operators, due to emotional and cultural links between Spain and Latin American countries.”

The relocation has been discussed for some time

Even though the potential move of ICE to some other European city has been under consideration for some time, the aforementioned decision was a new perspective for the entire sector.

In this regard, Salat added: “Over the years, ICE London has established itself as a resounding success in the gaming industry, gathering leaders, suppliers, operators, and gaming professionals from around the globe. It has grown in status as the most important trade show in Europe and has proven to be the ideal space to cultivate business relationships, and creating new opportunities for companies to expand their global reach. However, a good number of exhibitors, including Zitro, have realized significant challenges such as insufficient space venue for future growth, logistic complexities, and extremely high costs. Those challenges were communicated to Clarion and we were delighted this contributed to formal review through the recent bid process.”

One of the biggest European regulated markets today

The decision was also hailed as a good one as Spain represents one of Europe’s biggest regulated markets today, meaning in the online and land-based sectors, resulting in Barcelona being an ideal hub for European gaming firms. Also, the city is considered one of the key European tourist destinations, together with its top-quality facilities, logistics and extraordinary hospitality infrastructure, which proves that ICE 2025 will be a very rich experience.

Commenting on the beauty of Barcelona, the company notes: “The city’s captivating blend of rich cultural heritage, iconic landmarks, and vibrant atmosphere, offers attendees the perfect opportunity to complement their ICE experience.”

Source: “Zitro Comments On The Relocation Of ICE Show To Barcelona”. European Gaming. August 7, 2023

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After six months of bidding, the process of choosing the host city for Clarion Gaming’s ICE and iGB Affiliate conferences is finally over. From 2023, Barcelona will take over the role of the host, and at the same time, iGB L!VE will be held in London.

A tough choice

The shortlist of candidates contained four cities: London, Madrid, Paris, and Barcelona, and it wasn’t easy to agree upon the final decision, and there were more than 30 factors to consider.

The relocation process of the ICE was conducted along with Equimore, a famous event strategy, and location specialist, and the decision was made by the ICE advisory board. By 2025, the 12-year tenure in London will expire, so it’s the right time to relocate. After ExCeL in London, the event will take place at Fira de Barcelona, a space that is placed across 240,000 square meters. A five-year contract is signed with the property, with the start date set for January 20 and January 22.

Clarion Gamin didn’t want to take any chances, so the company already booked 40,000 hotel rooms for the event, and they will inform stakeholders beginning in September.

And why was Barcelona chosen? According to the source, Alex Pratt, the Managing Director at Clarion Gaming, highlighted the city’s magnificent facilities, as well as great infrastructure and logistics. One of the main reasons was ROI for customers and the ability to scale. He stated he was grateful for the efforts the stakeholders made to make the process smooth and come to the right decision. All of the shortlisted cities’ applications were professional and overall good.

Pratt commented: “This was a complex, customer-led undertaking. The process enabled us to identify the city that our customers believe is best equipped to be our strategic partner for the future and is able to host two world-class events which meet the needs of businesses of all sizes and locations across every part of the gaming and ICE community.”

Grateful to ExCeL

Barcelona isn’t the only city that gets a new event. The famous iGB L!VE is moving to London in 2025 after taking place in Amsterdam.

Prat thanked ExCeL London, highlighting all of its help during the last 12 years, saying: “We remain committed to ExCeL London as a great destination and are looking forward to bringing iGB L!VE to London in July 2025 to continue this legacy and provide the perfect backdrop for this fast-growing event’s future in key gaming territory. Now this process is complete, our exclusive focus is on continuing the ICE and iGB Affiliate success stories in partnership with our international stakeholders and delivering an amazing experience in London in 2024.”

The following ICE will be held in London from 6 to 8 February, while the iGB event will take place on 7 and 8 February.

Source: Harrison, Robin. “ICE and iGB Affiliate moving to Barcelona from 2025”. iGaming Business. August 1, 2023.

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ICE, Clarion Gaming’s famous B2B industry show, will no longer take place in London. After careful consideration, the company decided to relocate the event to Barcelona starting in 2025. Clarion Gaming noted that it also considered either moving the event to Madrid or Paris, or keeping it in London.

The company noted that its iGB Affiliate conference will also move to the capital of Spain’s Catalonia region. The events will be hosted there for five years, in accordance with the agreement with Fira de Barcelona, the city’s trade fair institution.

Equimore, a proven event specialist, will assist Clarion with its relocation project. The move was greenlit by ICE’s advisory board.

Meanwhile, iGB L!VE will instead relocate to London in 2025.

The Relocation Will Create New Opportunities for the Industry

Addressing the elephant in the room, Alex Pratt, Clarion Gaming’s managing director, said that the event will relocate to Barcelona because of the city’s “world-class facilities, outstanding hospitality infrastructure, logistics, ROI for customers and ability to scale.”

The move will effectively conclude a 12-year tenure at ExCeL London. Instead, the event will now be hosted at the 240,000-square-meter Fira de Barcelona property. The 2025 edition of ICE is planned to run for three days between January 20 and 22.

In addition, the move will form an alliance between the international gaming industry, Fira de Barcelona and stakeholders across Spain. Finally, Clarion Gaming noted that ICE and iGB Affiliate will be the only major events in Barcelona at the time, providing the industry with additional exposure.

Barcelona Was the Best-Equipped to Accommodate ICE

Pratt added that all four cities on Clarion’s shortlist had submitted “highly professional and impressive bids.” As a result, the decision to move the event to Barcelona didn’t come easily.

In the end, Clarion decided that Barcelona was “the best equipped” to be ICE’s strategic partner for the future. Pratt thanked ICE’s stakeholders for helping Clarion reach a decision and Equimore for its assistance.

The process [of selecting a location] enabled us to identify the city that our customers believe is best equipped to be our strategic partner for the future and is able to host two world-class events which meet the needs of businesses of all sizes and locations across every part of the gaming and ICE community.

Alex Pratt, MD, Clarion Gaming

In the meantime, iGB L!VE will move to London in 2025. Previously hosted in Amsterdam, the event will now be hosted at ExCeL London. Pratt noted that his team believes ExCeL London to be a “great destination” and believes that it will provide an amazing backdrop for the event.

Now that Clarion Gaming has reached a decision, it will focus on organizing next year’s editions of ICE and iGB Affiliate. For reference, the first event will run from February 6 to 8, 2024, while the latter will follow on February 7-8.

In other news, Clarion Gaming recently extended its ICE agreement with the European Casino Association.

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Clarion Gaming has announced an extension of its important partnership with the European Casino Association (ECA), a European trade body for land-based casino companies. As announced, the new deal will run through 2029.

Under the agreement, the ECA will continue to host the International Casino Conference (ICC) at ICE, Clarion’s annual trade exhibition. As usual, the conference will launch a day before the main ICE show and will welcome casino leaders from all around the world.

The event is attended by major stakeholders of big companies and executives of some of the best casino operators. As before, the VIP representatives will discuss the latest developments in the sector and the future of the industry as a whole.

For reference, the ICC is a part of the ICE VOX conference and networking program.

The Two Parties Are Delighted to Extend their Alliance

Alex Pratt, Clarion Gaming’s group managing director, commented on the agreement with the ECA, saying that it is an important partner of Clarion. According to him, the association’s presence is integral to ICE, with the ICC being one of the most important events for land-based casino companies.

Pratt attributed some of ICE’s growth to the presence of the ECA and its members at the event.

The fact that ICE continues to grow and continues to attract international thought leaders, influencers and senior buyers is due in no small part to the contributions made by the ECA and its members.

Alex Pratt, group managing director, Clarion Gaming

Stuart Hunter, Clarion Gaming’s managing director, also shared his thoughts on the matter, underlining the importance of working with the industry. He said that the cornerstone of ICE’s philosophy is the provision of the “very best professional business environment” for all of the verticals that Clarion serves.

Finally, Erwin van Lambaart, chair of the European Casino Association, said that his party is delighted to continue this partnership. He described the deal with Clarion as an alliance that his team deeply cherishes.

Since its foundation, this collaboration has consistently contributed to the growth and prosperity of the land-based casino industry, supporting the European Casino Association’s efforts to be the voice of the European industry at the national, regional and EU level.

Erwin van Lambaart, chair, ECA

Van Lambaart was elected as chair of the association earlier this year, following Per Jaldung’s departure from the position. Back then, van Lambaart promised that he will work with ECA’s members, board and partners on the priorities for the future work of the association – a sentiment reflected in the current deal extension with Clarion.

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The much-anticipated event that made a spectacular return on February 7-9 at ExCeL London reunited 40,000 visitors, representatives and pioneers of the gaming industry. 

The best game distributors, developers, retailers, operators, trade associations, innovators, regulators and strategic organizations all showed a massive interest in taking part in the “most comprehensive and ROI-friendly networking, business and learning experience”.

Raising the Bar for the Gaming Industry in 2023

Once again, the main goal of the event was to raise the bar for the international gaming industry in the new year. Accordingly, the three full days of intense networking and educational workshops were attended by a newly established record number of visitors when compared to the last ICE event organized prior to the start of the pandemic in 2020. Then, 36,000 unique attendees were recorded at the ICE event. In April 2022, the scaled-down version of ICE ushered in 24,000 participants who explored their favorite casino and games and sports betting areas. 

Just like last year, this year’s participants were given premier access to the industry’s latest, mesmerizing technology, and professional insights, along with the latest regulatory news. All this information helped attendees come across brand new ideas, expand their network for the benefit of their business, and reposition their brands in fresher and more seasoned markets over the course of the following months leading to December.

Clarion Gaming’s managing director Stuart Hunter explained that while the data should be checked by independent auditors, they remain confident that the event managed to break through the “40,000 high point” and set a new record in terms of visitors. 

79,000 Return Visits at the ICE London 2023

Hunter added that the number of visitor days, which is a measure of attendees’ return visits, reached 79,000. He called both numbers truly significant figures that showcase the magnitude and high value of the ICE experience as it is perceived by visitors. 

Around half of ICE 2023 attendees operated in both brick-and-mortar and online venues, while 50% were exclusively focused on online operations. Some 20,000 of this year’s attendees showed an interest in the Casino and Games booths, while Sports Betting was the main area of operation for 13,000 visitors. 

The ongoing attention given to the Payments sector was also visible through the 5,000 visitors that explained Payments represented their main point of focus and the primary reason why they attended the event in the first place. 

ICE VOX Was a Sold Out Stand-Out 

ICE VOX, which was held between February 5-8 was a stand-out program that managed to sell all its tickets for the first time in history. The signature content program of the international gaming community delivered exclusive content and an overall ICE experience that was a lot easier to understand and match with visitors’ schedules. 

It ran two different world-leading conferences: the World Regulatory Briefing and the International Casino Conference. It also ran four in-depth masterclasses: iGaming Masterclass, Safer Gambling Masterclass, Modernizing Lotteries Masterclass, and New Markets Masterclass. 

This year, ICE helped raise $63,798 for tackling gambling harm and promoting safer gambling. The money will reach four recipients interested in protecting customers from gambling harm in their countries. 

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