Rental Show Attendance Rises in 2017, ARA Says

American Rental Association said total rental business attendees in Orlando, Fla., this year were 6,276, the first time since 2006 that the number of rental attendees topped 6,000. ARA said it was the eighth consecutive year for growth in rental business attendance.

Michael Roth

March 18, 2017

2 min read

Rental Show attendees visit booths on the first day.

Both the 2001 and 2006 shows were also in Orlando, showing the Disneyworld hub to be a strong draw for The Rental Show. Total attendance at The Rental Show 2017 was 11,648, and was the highest total attendance since 2006.

Most exhibitors were satisfied with buying activity although traffic showed down Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday.

The five-year forecast for the equipment rental industry revenue released by ARA in January showed a moderate strengthening compared to the previous forecast from November 2016. U.S. equipment rental revenue is projected to reach $48.9 billion this year and grow at an average rate of 4.3 percent over the forecast to top $56 billion in 2020.

For 2018, The Rental Show will return to New Orleans and the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center with a full day of educational seminars on Sunday, Feb. 18, and the trade show from Monday, Feb. 19, through Wednesday, Feb. 21.

About the Author

Michael Roth

Editor

Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.