DALLAS — After an exhaustive search, the Dallas Safari Club (DSC) will move its massive DSC Convention & Sporting Expo to the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) beginning in 2025 and continuing through 2029, until construction of the new Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center is complete. For 40 years, Dallas has hosted the event, the premier hunting and conservation show in North America.
The show, which will continue in Dallas in 2024 (January 11-14), is expected to attract 40,000 attendees and approximately 900 exhibitors from 72 different countries across 700,000 square feet of exhibition space.
DSC’s research included a comprehensive review of 32 sites in Texas and across the United States, evaluating convention center facilities, hotels, amenities and access to international airports, as well as regional outdoor lifestyle demographics.
“We began planning locations across the country by referencing Trade Show Executive’s June 2022 issue on the World’s Best Convention Centers in 2022,” said Khris Harris, CEM, DSC’s convention events manager. “Using the facts, figures, analysis, charts and valuable data found in the publication, DSC’s cross-border discovery took shape. Our team of a few DSC employees and select board members were able to work behind the scenes and quickly hit the ground running at a breakneck pace, working on bids and proposals with various CVBs, convention centers and hotels across the country.”
“It was a relief,” Harris said, to finally unveil and present the presentation to DSC staff and the board. “The staff at CVB Atlanta and GWCC welcomed DSC with the same Southern charm and hospitality that has long characterized our convention and of which we are so proud. The DSC research team quickly felt comfortable and confident in Atlanta’s commitment to working with DSC to deliver its brand of Southern charm as it embraces our dedicated exhibiting partners and passionate attendees.”
This welcoming culture is a well-defined characteristic of this long-standing show that attendees and exhibitors have come to expect. “Our exhibitor partners and attendees know that the DSC Convention & Sporting Expo extends a warm welcome to all who attend,” said Harris. “This is in large part due to the incredible DSC 100 volunteers who work alongside DSC staff and our vendors. From the moment an exhibitor enters the yard or begins setting up their booth in the exhibit hall, they are greeted with an outstretched hand and sincere appreciation and gratitude for being such an important part of the show. We want our exhibitor partners to feel right at home again.”
One of the pillars of the show’s vision is to think about the experience first. Organizers say they pride themselves on ensuring that no matter where an attendee ventures around our event, a volunteer, vendor or staff member is there to greet them with a smile and welcome them with open arms.
Contact Khris Harris at khris@biggame.org or (972) 980-9800, ext. 302