BOULDER, Colo. – Informa’s New Hope Network will relocate Natural Products Expo East from Baltimore to Philadelphia in 2020, setting the stage for a significant growth spurt in exhibit space.
Natural Products Expo East and the co-located Biofach America made the latest Trade Show Executive (TSE) Gold 100 roster with 196,562 net square feet (nsf) of exhibit space in 2017 along with 1,502 exhibitors and 29,004 attendees. This year’s show will be held Sept. 12-15 at Baltimore Convention Center with a projected 203,600 nsf of exhibit space and 30,000 attendees.
Adam Andersen, Senior Vice President, Events, for Colorado-based New Hope, said in a statement provided to Trade Show Executive (TSE) that the show had grown to the point that it needed a larger venue. “We have outgrown the Baltimore Convention Center in its current state and will relocate to Philadelphia in 2020,” he said. “Moving to Philadelphia allows us to increase our opportunity to grow our Natural Products Expo East exhibit space for the growing health and wellness market.”
Moving into the Pennsylvania Convention Center will provide Andersen and his team with more than double the prime exhibit space currently available to them. The Baltimore Convention Center currently features 300,000 sf of prime exhibit space, placing it 45th on the TSE World’s Top Convention Centers ranking. The Pennsylvania Convention Center is ranked 20th with 679,000 sf of prime exhibit space.
Baltimore officials have been pushing for an expansion of the convention center and this summer received a consultant’s report that proposed an overall expansion that would add about 100,000 sf of additional exhibit space.
Andersen’s statement left a door open to possibly returning to Baltimore once the convention center was expanded. “If Baltimore does expand the convention center to a large enough size, we would again consider it for future years,” he said.
Reach Adam Andersen at (303) 998-9091 adam.andersen@informa.com
