By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) is so interested in bringing the bicycle trade show Interbike back to Las Vegas that the public tourism agency sent three staff members to the Bicycle Leadership Conference in Tucson, Arizona to discuss the idea with bike industry folks two months ago.
LVCVA Chief Operating Officer Brian Yost, Vice President of Sports and Special Events Lisa Motley and Sports and Special Events Manager Savannah Orth all traveled from Las Vegas to Tucson to see how the bicycle industry would respond to the idea of Interbike returning to Las Vegas.
The LVCVA trio told bicycle leaders that they were considering teaming up Interbike with the L’Etape Las Vegas Tour de France-branded bicycle ride in May.
Interbike used to be held at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center every September. The last year was 2017.
May is not an ideal month for Interbike. Holding the bike industry’s annual trade show in September was kind of a compromise between retail bicycle shop owners and bike part manufacturing brands. But May is the month when the LVCVA and its related Las Vegas Events were putting on the L’Etape bike rides in Red Rock Canyon.
The LVCVA was looking to combine the bike ride and trade show into an overall bicycle festival experience.
LVSportsBiz.com emailed Yost, Motley and LVCVA PR for comments on their Interbike efforts. But nobody returned our emails.
Interbike’s former trade show promoter, Emerald Expositions, also had a representative at the Bicycle Leadership Conference. Aracely Ferraresi of Emerald Exposition was also on the scene at the Tucson bicycle gathering. LVSportsBiz.com also emailed Ferraresi for comment and if we hear back we shall include the response.
Generally speaking, the bicycle industry would like a trade show where bike people could gather once a year to talk shop, catch up, network and socialize. When Interbike was in Las Vegas, there were also other related bike events like CrossVegas cyclo-cross competition and even an RTC Viva Bike Vegas ride.