In an effort to enhance international business relationships, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) and the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), owner and producer of the annual Consumer Electronics Show, closed out last month’s CES with an official Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the World Trade Center Las Vegas and the World Trade Center Trieste in Trieste, Italy.

Through the agreement, Las Vegas and Trieste will co-market under the World Trade Center brand, creating access to key trade information, market research and facilitate business trade opportunities around the world.

The World Trade Centers Association encourages mutual assistance and cooperation among its membership network, which comprises 68 cities in North America alone.

In 2010, CTA was granted the rights to the World Trade Center Las Vegas license and partnered with the LVCVA in an effort to attract more international visitors and trade events to Las Vegas.

Currently, 19 percent or nearly six million of all Las Vegas visitors are international travelers and over the next decade, the LVCVA intends to increase that figure steadily.

“International visitation represents a tremendous growth opportunity for Las Vegas as a leading destination for business and leisure travel,” said Rossi Ralenkotter, CEO of the LVCVA, at the Jan. 12 agreement signing.

He continued, “Today’s MOU signing and the impressive delegation coordinated with WTC Trieste is a testament to the benefits of leveraging the strength of the Las Vegas brand, the convention center’s World Trade Center designation and our global relationships.”

The partnership between WTC Las Vegas and WTC Trieste has already produced positive opportunities for both destinations as the groups successfully arranged a delegation of more than 100 Italian attendees to participate in CES 2018.

WTC Trieste has expressed intention to return to Las Vegas next year to exhibit at CES once again.

“Thanks to the strong support of WTC Las Vegas this year, for the first time, the Italian presence of qualified startups at CES is huge with more than 100 startup representatives,” said Cristina Sbaizero, president of World Trade Center Trieste.

She continued, “This MOU will further enhance collaboration to build Las Vegas as a global business destination in our country and for Trieste, this bridge is very important to better highlight our location to develop business in Europe and all of these assets are internationally connected thanks to the World Trade Centers Association Network.”

Las Vegas is the only destination in North America with a World Trade Center designation on the campus of a convention center.

In addition to the Memorandum of Understanding with WTC Trieste, the WTC Las Vegas has signed MOUs with WTC Montevideo, WTC Dulles Airport, WTC Taipei, WTC Mexico City, WTC Brussels, WTC Beijing, WTC Miami, WTC Istanbul, WTC Seoul, WTC Sao Paulo, WTC Ft. Lauderdale and WTC Santiago.

The LVCVA also has a MOU with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration to promote travel and tourism exports.

“Our alliance with the LVCVA and the World Trade Center Las Vegas have paved the way for outstanding opportunities to elevate visibility for Las Vegas and CES on a global stage,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of CTA.

He added, “By forging business connections with other World Trade Centers in global cities, the LVCVA and CTA strengthen the potential for growing international opportunities. We look forward to celebrating continued successes through our newest agreement with WTC Trieste.”

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