It’s Thursday, so I’ve got another Green Felt Journal in Vegas Seven. This week, I take a look at the surprising success of hobby-related trade shows, with a focus on Creation Entertainment’s upcoming Star Trek Convention:
Things haven’t looked good for business travel to Las Vegas for a few years. Since 2006, the city has suffered a 29 percent reduction in convention attendance. But amid the gloom, one sector of group travel has weathered the storm surprisingly well: hobby-related trade shows.
Creation Entertainment, which puts on conventions across the country for fans of genre television and movies, has seen attendance at its annual Star Trek convention in Las Vegas climb steadily in recent years. In fact, thanks to the company’s efforts, the city holds the world’s largest Star Trek convention each year—and is shooting for the record books again during this year’s event, set for Aug. 5-8 at the Las Vegas Hilton.
Fun article to research–I learned a lot about the thriving genre TV convention circuit. I’m doing a follow-up at the convention that should be even more interesting. If you decide to go, you might run into me–with or without a Gorn costume (almost certainly without, but you never know).