In what will be a welcome relief to retailers and manufacturers alike, the IPCPR Convention & Trade Show will return to its weekend format for 2018.

halfwheel has learned the 2018 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show will take place from July 13-17, 2018.

This means the seminars will begin on a Friday, with the trade show running Saturday through Tuesday.

It will once again be hosted at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the second year in a row.

The change will be a welcome for many as it will make easier for many retailers to take off time to attend the show, ultimately increasing attendance and sales. Over the last two years the trade show portion of the event has been during the week, starting on Monday of last year and Tuesday this year. Many reported stronger sales later in the week, a change from the historical tune where the first day of the trade show was typically the strongest.

Beyond 2018, the trade show’s location and dates are up in the air. Earlier this year, the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers’ Association asked its members where it would like the show to be hosted, giving options of Las Vegas, New Orleans and Orlando.

The IPCPR show, under its IPCPR name, has only been hosted in those three cities with Orlando getting the 2012 show, New Orleans hosting in 2009, 2010 and 2015 and Las Vegas hosting the remainder. Prior to that, the trade show and organization was known as the Retail Tobacco Dealers Association (RTDA) and the 2007 trade show was hosted in Houston.

An earlier version of this story had the show’s final day as July 18, when it is in fact July 17. We regret the error.

Davidoff is the official sponsor of halfwheel's coverage of the 2018 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.