Snazzy luggage, toothpaste tablets on display at travel show

Have big travel plans for 2013? Pack the Samonsite, grab a passport holder that protects your SIM card and load up with toothpaste tablets.

Everything from luggage to those chewable tablets are on display through Friday at the 2013 Travel Goods Show at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, which features manufacturers and distributors of travel-related products. Luggage sets, inflatable pillows and passport holders are filling the 125,500-square-foot space, which is 16 percent bigger than the 2012 show.

Michele Marini Pittenger, president of the Travel Goods Association, said recent upticks in overall travel helped this year’s show become the largest in recent history.

The U.S. Travel Association forecasts travel expenditures in 2013 to increase 3.6 percent from a year earlier to
$882.3 billion. In Las Vegas, visitor count was up 2.1 percent in 2012 over 2011.

“When people travel more, they want better travel goods,” Pittenger said.

And it seems the travel goods industry is hoping that’s true. The industry-only show features 260 exhibitors and 450 brands, bringing attendance up 30 percent over 2012. Of that, 113 booths are first-time exhibitors.

“Our show, when for so many industries, the new normal is a flat market, ours is just booming,” Pittenger said.

Among new models of old luggage favorites such as Samsonite, Kenneth Cole and Swiss Gear, the show also includes new lines that focus on very specific features, such as ComforTravel’s line of passport holders that also protect subscriber identity module cards.

ComforTravel owner and CEO William Laurent said his product is designed for international travelers who change SIM cards upon entering different countries. The first day of the show, Wednesday, was strong for the new company, but Thursday was a little slow, Laurent said.

David McClees, president of Talus Corp., a distributor of travel accessories that include money belts, pillows and locks, said so far the expo has been productive for his company.

“It’s been a good show. We’ve seen a lot of old friends and had a good reception to a couple of our new products that we’re really pleased about,” McClees said.

In particular, the teleport charging station has received good word-of-mouth at Travel Goods. The device allows users to store phones while charging them to liberate counter space in hotel rooms. It retails for about $15.

Talus’ products, which include radio-frequency ID-blocking features, can be found in travel catalogs, airport gift stores and luggage stores.

Archtek also was at the show, exhibiting its toothpaste tablets. They work like this: Place one in your mouth, chew and brush like normal.

“At 25 percent of the weight and volume of an equivalent amount of toothpaste, the convenience factor is huge,” said Scott Jacobs, Archtek’s owner. “Because TSA allows any quantity of toothpaste tablets as carryon luggage, they never need to be separated and placed in the dreaded zip-lock bag for scanning.”

Contact reporter Laura Carroll at lcarroll@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4588. Follow @lscvegas on Twitter.