IAAPA Expo plans to expand its footprint at the Orange County Convention Center. This is said to reflect the boom in economic activity associated with the health of the tourism industry.
The annual exhibition will be moved to the West Concourse of the Convention Centre for the first time in 2026. Previously, it was only performed in North and South competitions.
“The industry is growing. You can see it in projects like the epic universe, but you see it in all the little attractions in Ripley’s mirror maze, if it’s a Pat Shack, or if it’s a pop stroke, or if those little attractions are actually contributing to the success of attraction-based associations, if it’s a pop stroke, you see it in all the little attractions. Iaapa.
The Expo is known for its vast and rich trade floors, including vendors of all kinds of manufacturers and creative types, presenting everything from water slide equipment to major roller coasters, luxury animals for carnival games and theme park announcements. The selection of participants is diversifying, Wahl said.
“We’ve come more and more resorts and we’ve seen more and more cruise ships,” he said. “The growth of food and beverage vendors is increasing and we are working to increase our focus on technology vendors. There are many companies in that area.”
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The 2025 Expo floor will sell out at over 1,100 vendors, some of which will be set up in the convention center parking lot. The event had over 40,000 attendees last year.
IAAPA Expo, which also includes educational sessions and excursions to Central Florida attractions, last year featured a themed pavilion that includes regional and Halloween-led sections dedicated to food and beverage companies.
“We want to expand, but we also want to use that expansion to grow our show further, become more creative, more global and more immersive,” says Wahl.
“Here we’ll be introducing some pavilions at the show next year, and bringing you a new segment of the expo that really caters to the new industry and may not have the same presence as we’ve thought of in the past,” he said.
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This year’s expo will begin on November 17th, but the expansion to the West Concourse is expected to kick next year.
“Extensions like this aren’t really that easy to do,” Wahl said. “We actually started working together on floor plans a year and a half ago.”
The IAAPA Expo has been in the convention center every year since 2010. IAAPA moved home from Alexandria, Virginia to Orlando in 2017, and later built its global headquarters on Taftvin Land Road.
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Original issue: June 16, 2025, 11:31am EDT
