Total attendance at last month’s Rental Show was 12,066, topping the 12,000 mark for the first time since 2006 in Orlando, Fla., when the American Rental Association was celebrating its 50th anniversary. The number includes rental attendees plus exhibitor personnel at the New Orleans show.
Rental businesses totaled 2,657 with 6,047 total attendees.
“There is a tone of optimism in the industry,” said Tony Conant, ARA’s CEO. “Everybody I spoke to in the construction segment said the show was as good or better than last year, and it was the largest show floor in 20 years. Many said it was one of the best shows they’ve been to.”
ARA had the opportunity to expand the trade show floor for 2018, adding Hall D, and exhibit space sold out for the sixth straight year. The additional space made 2018 the largest contiguous show floor since 1998 in Orlando.
Next year The Rental Show returns to the West for the first time in six years and to Anaheim, Calif., for the first time in 16 years. Anaheim has hosted The Rental Show seven times previously, between 1973 and 2003. The Rental Show 2019 will be Feb. 17-20 at the Anaheim Convention Center.
