Visitor numbers to the first Summit of the Americas were down around -11.7%, but the move to the Hyatt Regency Orlando next year will hope to address this. Visitor registrations to the inaugural Duty Free and Travel Retail Summit of the Americas – which took place at the Orlando Marriott World Center hotel – reached *1,860, around 440 of which were buyer attendees. IAADFS President and CEO Michael Payne confirmed the buyer numbers directly to TRBusiness. In terms of exhibition space, Payne confirmed this had risen by around 1,000sq ft, including eight extra exhibitors. Some might view the preliminary figures, which equate to roughly 160 to 200 fewer visitors and 162 buyers compared to last year’s IAADFS Duty Free Show of the Americas (2,076 visitors and 602 buyers, respectively), as surprising given the event’s amalgamation of ASUTIL and IAADFS’ standalone conference and exhibitions. “It shouldn’t change much when we reconcile the categories,” Payne said. “The lack of on-site