International tourism trade show in Casper April 19–22

CASPER, Wyo. — Tourism professionals from seven overseas markets will converge in Casper for the 2024 International Roundup tourism trade show April 19–22. 

Casper Convention & Visitors Bureau, or Visit Casper, in partnership with the Wyoming Office of Tourism and The Great American West, is sponsoring the International Roundup. 

Casper was slated as the IRU site in 2020 and again in 2021, but the event was postponed both years due to border closures surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“We’ve been excited and ready as we prepared to host IRU partners in our great community for many years now,” said Amanda Sewell, destination experience coordinator at Visit Casper. “The anticipation and excitement have grown as a host city, and now more than ever we are ready to welcome the world to Casper.”

The event will bring international travel planners and tour operators who specialize in selling customized travel itineraries through the five-state region of Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota, collectively branded overseas as “The Great American West,” according to a Visit Casper press release.

“Business conducted at the event will help contribute an estimated $110.8 million in visitor spending to Wyoming and an estimated $259 million to the five-state region,” states the press release.

Events will take place throughout the Casper area, starting with a welcome reception April 19 at the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center. April 20, which starts with a breakfast at the Ramkota Hotel and a breakfast briefing at Wyoming Theatre, is dedicated to an exclusive tour around Casper with stops at historic museums, significant landmarks, local eateries, downtown shops and more.

A complete schedule is available here.

The International Roundup is expected to provide a long-term economic boost for the region, with more than 100 regional suppliers and 40 international tour operators expected to attend the multi-day event that includes over 2,600 prescheduled appointments with destination representatives, according to Visit Casper.

“International Roundup is more than just a trade show, it’s a chance to turn partnerships into friendships,” Sewell said. “Buyers and sellers of foreign countries get to come together, in person, for the greater purpose of tourism, in hope of enhancing the economic growth of our countries and communities.”

James Scoon, Wyoming Office of Tourism global partnerships director, said there is no better way to sell a community than through in-person experiences. 

“It is the ultimate marketing opportunity,” Scoon said.   

The International Roundup is a chance for regional suppliers to meet one-on-one with international tour operators from the United Kingdom, Germany, Benelux, France, Italy, Australia and Nordic countries to conduct business negotiations that would otherwise be generated only through substantial individual investment and an exhaustive number of around-the-world trips, the press release states.

Many of the tour operators who attend are small- to medium-sized companies who specialize in tailor-made fly and drive itineraries for individual clients. The knowledge and connections gained at the IRU allows tour operators to offer experiences in this region of the United States.

“Casper has grown so much since 2017, and even more since 2020,” Sewell said. “Its wide-open spaces and history-packed borders, paired with the year-round outdoor recreation opportunities, [have] made Casper come alive as a hot spot for people to be able to safely visit or even relocate to.”

To learn more about International Roundup, visit InternationalRoundup.com.

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