2024 EsportsTravel Summit Heads to Raleigh

Raleigh, N.C. (July 17, 2023) – Northstar Meetings Group has announced Raleigh as the upcoming host for the 2024 EsportsTravel Summit— the only event of its kind for esports tournament and event organizers. Hosted by Visit Raleigh, the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance and the Raleigh Convention Center, the event will be held May 29–31, 2024. The announcement was made on the final day of the 2023 EsportsTravel Summit, which was held in Toronto last Friday.

Produced by Northstar Meetings Group, the EsportsTravel Summit is the premier business conference focused on esports tournaments and events as well as the role of the travel industry in the continued growth of video gaming and esports. The event facilitates partnerships between esports organizations and the travel industry while providing educational programming, a marketplace with one-on-one appointments and multiple business networking opportunities.

“Raleigh is an ideal host for our upcoming EsportsTravel Summit,” said Jason Gewirtz, Vice President of the Sports Division of Northstar Meetings Group, which organizes the event. “We are excited to get to work with our partners at Visit Raleigh to plan for a dynamic, productive and educational experience for the esports events industry. Our attendees will enjoy seeing how this forward-thinking destination has planned out their esports ecosystem and embraced the future of the events industry.”

In 2024, the EsportsTravel Summit will be staged at the Raleigh Convention Center. In recent years, Raleigh has emerged as a leading global host destination for esports, cementing its reputation as a market that celebrates the competitive video game culture and community. The capital city has become a global hotspot for hosting the most diverse national and international game title events and is focused on becoming a leading global destination for esports industry research, development and education.

In the past 12 months Raleigh has hosted several major esports tournaments, including the 2022 Fortnite Championship Series Invitational, the 2022 Call of Duty Major 1, the 2022 Apex Legends Global Series Championship, the 2023 League of Legends-Spring League Championship Series and the most recent Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Qualifier, with events hosted at the Raleigh Convention Center and PNC Arena. Overall, esports have generated more than 30,000 overnight visitors for the destination, with an average of 19 countries represented per event.

“We’ve watched with great interest for years what Raleigh has accomplished in esports and we are thrilled to bring the EsportsTravel Summit to one of the epicenters of esports in the United States,” Gewirtz said. “Raleigh’s track record in esports and its ability to attract top-tier esports events speaks for itself.”

Greater Raleigh is also home to numerous video game and esports endemic companies, including leading developer Epic Games, technology providers Lenovo, Cisco and NVIDIA, plus open-source software company Red Hat. The region has also created the Greater Raleigh Esports Local Organizing Committee (GRELOC), a local group that has proven paramount to the execution of the local, regional, national and international strategy driving Greater Raleigh’s success in esports and video gaming initiatives.

“Greater Raleigh is excited to host the 2024 EsportsTravel Summit,” said Loren Gold, Executive Vice President of Visit Raleigh. “We are looking forward to welcoming all industry attendees and offering them an immersive and educational experience that only Greater Raleigh can deliver.”
 

About Northstar Meetings Group:
Northstar Meetings Group is the leading B-to-B information and marketing solutions company serving all segments of the business meetings, events, sports and incentives markets, facilitating professional development and achievement of business goals. The company's influential brands – SportsTravel, Meetings & Conventions, Successful Meetings, Associations Meetings International, Meetings & Incentive Travel, Meeting News, Incentive and M&C Asia –serve nearly 500,000 active sports event organizers, meeting and event planners, and incentive professionals. Northstar also organizes the TEAMS Conference & Expo, TEAMS Europe and the EsportsTravel Summit.

About the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau (Visit Raleigh):
As the official destination marketing organization for Wake County, the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau (Visit Raleigh), is responsible for promoting Wake County as an attractive travel destination and enhancing its public image as a dynamic place to live and work. Through the impact of travel, the organization strengthens the economic position of and provide opportunity for people throughout Wake County. Raleigh, N.C./Wake County welcomes nearly 16 million visitors annually whose spending tops $2.3 billion. The visitor economy supports more than 21,000 local jobs in Wake County and generates $243 million in state and local tax revenues, saving each Wake County household $592 in taxes annually. visitRaleigh.com

Media Contact:
Visit Raleigh
Jessica Holt, Director of Public Relations
919.645.2654
jholt@visitRaleigh.com

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