CES 2023 Returns to Las Vegas Amid High Attendance Expectations
The Consumer Technology Association prepares to host its first major in-person CES since early 2020, anticipating around 100,000 attendees after a rocky three-year pandemic pivot.
TechCrunch prepares to attend its first in-person CES in three years as the massive consumer technology trade show returns to Las Vegas. The last time the team attends the event in person is January 2020, just before the global pandemic disrupts live gatherings worldwide. Since then, the Consumer Technology Association faces an existential crisis as it attempts to navigate virtual pivots and severely reduced in-person attendance.
Last year's show coincides with the omicron spike and sees only about 44,000 attendees, marking a 75 percent drop from the 117,000 people who visit in 2020. Many media outlets, including TechCrunch, opt to skip the 2022 event entirely due to highly contagious COVID-19 strains and risky holiday travel. Now, the CTA expects attendance to rebound significantly to around 100,000 visitors for the upcoming 2023 showcase.
Navigating the sprawling convention has become increasingly impossible over the years as the show expands well beyond the Las Vegas Convention Center. Exhibits and official events now spill into the Venetian Convention and Expo Center, countless hotel suites, and various unofficial spaces orbiting the strip. Despite the challenges of the past three years, organizers show clear determination to bring the world's largest annual tech trade show back to its full, bustling glory.