Questions about attendance precede and proceed every IPCPR Convention & Trade Show, this year was no different.

According to numbers provided by the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR),  this years show drew 752 retail stores and 1,920 badges issued to said stores. That represents a 16.6 percent drop in the number of stores and 20.5 percent drop in the number of badges compared to the 2016 trade show.

YearStoresBadges
20148271,914
20157451,896
20168772,314
20177521,920
20187782,054
20197712,085
20215831,440
20227072,036
20238092,155

Notably, both numbers still beat out the 2015 trade show, which was in New Orleans, but it’s the lowest attended of the last three trade shows. This year’s trade show was marked by some notable hurdles. It was the first trade show held since the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) began regulating premium cigars.

Perhaps more notably, late last year the IPCPR announced the trade show would move both dates and venues after being forced out of the Sands Expo Center.

The 2018 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show will take place July 13-17 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Davidoff is the official sponsor of halfwheel's coverage of the 2017 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show.
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Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.