NEW YORK (AP) — CES, one of the world’s biggest technology conferences, will be a virtual event in January due to the coronavirus pandemic, a reversal from May when organizers said it would go on as a smaller gathering in Las Vegas.
The announcement Tuesday is another blow for Las Vegas which, like all other U.S. tourist destinations, is suffering as people stay home or vacation locally. More than 170,00 people attended the four-day show this year in January, before COVID-19 began to spread across the U.S.
States in the South and West are being hit particularly hard.
In Nevada over the past two weeks, the rolling average number of daily new cases has increased 27%. The state now ranks sixth in the country for new cases of COVID-19 per capita.
The pandemic has disrupted major tech events everywhere.
The Consumer Technology Association, which organizes CES, had said in May that it planned to go ahead and hold some events in Las Vegas next year, but the thinking changed as COVID-19 cases spiked around the world, making it impossible to hold an indoor event in January 2021, said CTA CEO Gary Shapiro.
“Amid the pandemic and growing global health concerns about the spread of COVID-19, it’s just not possible to safely convene tens of thousands of people in Las Vegas in early January 2021 to meet and do business in person,” Shapiro said in a statement. “Technology helps us all work, learn and connect during the pandemic — and that innovation will also help us reimagine CES 2021 and bring together the tech community in a meaningful way. By shifting to an all-digital platform for 2021, we can deliver a unique experience that helps our exhibitors connect with existing and new audiences.”
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority President and CEO Steve Hill expressed disappointment in the decision.
“We know the decision to move CES to a virtual show in January was extremely difficult for CTA leadership,” Hill said in a statement. “While it’s disappointing we won’t be welcoming CES as the first show inside our West Hall expansion, we certainly respect their decision in light of the impact the virus has caused throughout the world. We deeply value our 40-year partnership with CES and look forward to welcoming the show and their loyal attendees back to Las Vegas in 2022.”
On Twitter, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak said, “I understand the difficult decision CES organizers had to make, weighing the current conditions of COVID-19 in the United States and the world at large.”
Europe’s biggest consumer electronics trade fair, Germany’s IFA, usually runs for six days and drew nearly a quarter million people last year. This year, it’s half that duration and there will be no public access to the event in September. Web Summit, a glitzy event in Portugal that features high profile tech CEOs and celebrities, will be online this time. Organizers aim to still hold the physical conference in Lisbon in December but won’t make any final decisions until early October.
Trade shows are a place where people network, try new gadgets or make a sale. But they’re also big business onto themselves, accounting for $2.5 trillion in global spending, according to the Events Industry Council. Much of that is likely to be lost when events go online.
There was also uncertainty over whether employees of big tech companies would be allowed to travel by then. Google, for example, said this week that its employees should work from home until at least July 2021.
The four-day digital version of the CES gadget show begins Jan. 6.
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Kelvin Chan in London contributed to this story.
