HBA show organizer UBM International Media will take over the management of the Spa & Resort show from current organizer Reed Business Exhibitions.
Nancy Largay, vice president at Reed Business Exhibitions, said that the move was the right one for the beauty industry, while stressing the clear synergies between the two events.
UBM says that now one badge gives access to both the events, enabling beauty professionals to encounter a wider offering of goods and services on display on the two different floors occupied by each event.
Conferencing program remains separate
However, registration to the HBA conference program remains a separate process and is priced according to which specific conference individual professionals wish to attend.
The arrangement follows on from the fact that the two events were co-located at the Jacob Javitz Center last September for the first time, a move that both Reed and UBM said was successful.
As a result of the merger, the West Coast Spa & Resort edition, which was due to take place in February, will now be postponed, with all the planned events set to be incorporated into the HBA Global Beauty Week in September.
Conference program gears up to surgeons
“We look forward to enhancing the experience in 2010 and adding more educational content beneficial to plastic surgeons and dermatologists as well as spa owners and skin care professionals,” said Jill Birkett, brand director of beauty and wellness for the HBA show.
Although HBA remains the most significant event for the North American beauty industry, recent years have seen a shift in emphasis away from the exhibition floor towards building a more comprehensive conferencing program.
This year the event will take place a little later than usual, September 28 – 30, and like last year the three-day conference program will cover all the latest trends and issues facing the industry.