DEMA SHOW
A Retailers Guide to Prepare for the DEMA Show by David Prichard & Lily Mak , Enchanted Sea Images, Inc., Dallas, TX
A RE YOU ALL SET for the upcoming 2026 DEMA Show in New Orleans that is taking place November 3 to 6 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center? Are travel and hotel arrangements booked for you and your staff? Are key meetings with important contacts scheduled? Do you have your hour-by-hour itinerary mapped out as well as “before and after show hours” networking opportunities planned on your schedule? If not, now is the time to get busy with all those items. Suc- cessful dive centers are already scheduling valuable meeting times with the 500+ exhibitors, and the time slots may fill up. Hotels and flights book up quickly, as well as valuable face-to-face meeting times with the company representatives you need to meet to help your dive center grow and prosper. Travel and Staff Assignments: During major tradeshows like the DEMA Show, hotels often charge premium rates
because of ‘supply and demand,’ with over 7,000 attendees coming in from around the world plus the staff of over 500 exhibitors, which could mean several thousand more people looking for rooms within the vicinity of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center along the Mississippi River. The DEMA Show has reserved blocks of rooms in five hotels in New Orleans, but only one will have scheduled shuttle service, so getting to and from the convention center each day needs to be included in your travel plans. There are many other hotel options in the area, but all will require commuting plans, as well as spending time searching for available and appropriate lodging. How many staff from your dive center are you bringing to the show? Are you registering them and helping them with their accommodations and/or flights, or are they on their own? If you are bringing key staff members with you, then
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