That's a Wrap DEMA 2024!

We had an incredible time meeting everyone at DEMA 2024 in Las Vegas this year! Not only did we have an amazing booth, but we had an amazing time connecting, reconnecting, and meeting new faces!

So what does DEMA Week look like? I'll walk you through it ;)

The show floor opens Tuesday-Friday at 10am, closes at 6pm through Thursday and the final day Friday runs 10am-5pm.

I arrived on Sunday (on a late night flight from Charlotte to Vegas) grabbed both my checked bags (both hanging right at that 50 lb. limit each) & 30 lb. backpack (so about 130lbs. total) and head to the Westgate Casino & Hotel for a good nights sleep. This is the DEMA Show partnered hotel as it sits right next to the Convention Center. We're in the South Hall all week, and there are multiple ways to get from hotel to show floor.

Monday Morning you have pretty much all day to get to the convention center for setup, 8am-5pm and I was ready to get started!

First transfer option - The monorail which goes all along the strip. It's a quick 1-stop from this hotel to convention center, but you can get all the way to Mandalay Bay on it too! A 24 hour pass is around $15 and allows unlimited rides. I took this on the first day to get my very heavy suitcase full of goodies to the show floor.

You have to stop by the registration booth to pick up your badges before you can get onto the show floor, and then Exhibitors Only are allowed in for setup days. Security is watching you!

Your other options before the show actually opens are to Uber/Lyft or walk. There is a DEMA Shuttle bus from hotel to convention center on show days and you receive your shuttle pass at hotel check-in (with a $30 replacement fee if you lose it!).

So as I lug everything through the show floor I am met with THE MOST Excitement as we have worked with our Marketing & Brand Partnership team to create a beautiful new booth image that's waiting for me! This is how I was able to just pack goodies in 2 carry-on bags - everything else was setup and will be broken down after I leave Friday. My hope/plan was that I'd distribute most, if not all of the goodies I packed so I'd have empty suitcases to bring home! (how much you wanna bet THAT didn't happen? I'm taking over-unders now ;)

As we already had the backdrop, high-top table, chairs and bag rack waiting for us in the booth - it was time for me to get the swag bags packed!

I was able to fit 77 cotton tote bags in my suitcase along with 150 new Dive Inclusion Tri-Fold brochures, 300 postcards, 100 flip flop key-chains, 100 Lanyard Card/Key holders, pens, stickers, ocean creature figurines, and of course "emotional support water bottle" stickers along with another bag rack, water bottles, business cards and table top display items in that suitcase.

I had to do some running back and forth to the FedEx center at the hotel - so I was grateful for the monorail pass. I picked up 200 Dive Group Inclusions Flyers, and about 20 Dive Press Kits for the media room!

Here I am sitting on the floor putting those bags together - And LOOK at our awesome Stickers!!

I also ran out to Walmart to pick up a 32' TV Monitor as a little show trick I've picked up in my 10 years as a BDM - Convention Center wanted $800 to rent one!! No thank you...

Walmart has a VERY generous return policy, and while our booth already had electricity - I just asked the expo center if I could add another extension cord to run the TV and they approved it!

This way I only spent $95 + a round trip uber ride to pick up the TV which I returned Friday after the show to the convention center's FedEx shop (with a $10 handling fee) to be shipped back to Walmart and had my full refund in my bank account by Saturday! (I've also done this with tables, chairs, etc. for other shows when I had a rental car).

By the end of the day I had taken about 3-4 trips to and from the convention center but we had a fabulous booth ready to go!

We also had a super cool video put together to bring in interest that played through the whole week.

Location, Location, Location is KEY for this show. This year our booth was placed at the end of the Bahamas Corridor along the first row from the entrance. That meant we had the best chance for every attendee to walk by our booth at least once if they walked straight through the Show Entrance Arch.

We made connections with SO many new friends, and also saw all of our favorites.

Mr. Clarke was a highlight in the booth with all his IDC colleagues and partners stopping by to visit. He was interviewed multiple times through the week and celebrated at PADI's Course Director Event where he received his 3rd Platinum Course Director accolade!

We also saw our Catamaran style dive boat manufacturers! More boats are on order! Soon Come!! (they can only make so many each year while waiting on motors/parts to arrive, and then the boat has to GET to the island and go through that government's import, registration, and licensing process - It's not quite as easy as buying a boat/car in the US).

We also had the pleasure of having 2 Aqua Center team members attend the show; Renaldo from Sandals Dunn's River was wandering the floor and participating in break out sessions, and Brian from Sandals Royal Bahamian enjoyed his first DEMA experience!

Tuesday Morning bright and early Sandals & Beaches was invited to Scuba Diving Magazine's Readers Choice Awards Breakfast to receive our trophy and admire everyone walking around with our brand on the cover of the magazine. This made a huge impact and difference to our DEMA showing - THANK YOU to all of you who voted to bring 31 awards home to our Sandals & Beaches Resorts!! I can't wait till next year!

We were busy busy handing out bags, stickers, and chatting with all the attendees on Tuesday. With the first day of the show being the highest attendee rate, I felt like we were constantly talking the whole day! A good challenge to have.

Thankfully I also thought ahead on that original Walmart trip and packed myself a cooler bag full of snacks and to-go lunches so I wasn't paying convention center prices for a burger.

That evening was the DAN cocktail mixer back at the hotel - there were SO many people there in that dark ballroom that I stopped in (a casually late 40 minutes after it started...), said my hellos and turned right back around to find dinner elsewhere. It had been a long day, and my feet were sore - so early to bed for me!

Day 2 I took advantage of getting some extra steps in and walked from the hotel to the convention center. The DEMA team thought of everything and there were funny, encouraging messages the whole walk directing us where to go. It was also nice to get some fresh air early in the morning.

"Pro Tip: Feel Free to Narrate your journey in Dramatic Movie Voiceovers:

"Stuck in Traffic? Just kidding! Keep going - you're doing great!"

"Congratulations! You're now a certified Urban Explorer!"

divers and their certification jokes

I was able to walk the floor a little bit more this day, connect with some of my favorite brands and purchase a few things. Like a new Spyderco (they have great non-corrosive dive options and everyday options - My Husband LOVES his), put myself in for the daily GoPro draw for a new Hero 13 (you know I love my 10 though!), and supported some friends at the Insta360 booth for their presentations!

We handed out all 77 of our tote bags by 12pm on Wednesday! So the remaining brochures, flyers, and swag I had left was replenished as needed through the day.

Isidora is a fabulous Instagram Influencer who has partnered with multiple brands across the globe. She's even been to our Sandals Royal Curacao resort!

Follow her if you're not already ;)

@Dive.Into.Life

I've been looking at these for the last couple of years at shows - I finally bit the bullet and bought my own!

It was too good of a deal to pass up - Black Friday deals meant the newest camera, 2 batteries, an SD card, underwater case, invisible selfie stick - and then I went back for the extended 3 METER stick all for $525! Jump below for the first video!

I found the Taco restaurant at the hotel that had a short line and picked myself up some delicious chips & salsa to accompany that taco for supper. There was also a Sprinkles cupcake machine in the hallway on the way back that I made sure to stop and at pick out a sweet treat. I deserved it right?!

Day 3 I got to experiment with my new camera toys. I arrived to the show floor earlier than usual in case I had to make a couple runs at the show floor video idea.

I'm still getting used to the editing software of the new app, but I was able to put together mostly what I wanted the video to look like and then cut out a few spots on cap cut and add music!

Check out the video below and be introduced to some more of my favorite brands!

Insta360 - they still have some deals happening if you've been looking for a new camera!

Sea Fear - You'll find their brand in our Aqua Centers on your next trip! They make great cover-ups, rash guards, leggings and UV coverage!

Nudi Wear - I bought the nudibranch FULL outfit for myself and a tiger shark rash guard for my hubby.

GoPro - the new 13 is available (with cyber deals/black Friday still happening) AND they've partnered with PADI for a GoPro specialty!

Spacefish Army - I love this team, Morgan and RJ are top notch people making a difference in the underwater ecosystem & fashion world ;) I think I have almost every pattern.

Stream2Sea - REAL reef-safe sunscreens, shower stuff, leave-in conditioner that I SWEAR by, and a new product that actually FEEDS the reef as you wear it!

DAN Dive Insurance - all divers should purchase this regularly (its the one thing you purchase with the hope to never use - I have the Guardian plan which covers a TON and it's only around $300/year? worth it. We also offer shorter coverage plans on resort if you only get to dive a few times a year!

and of course, our PADI team. We wouldn't be anything without them! You can always start your PADI course online through the eLearning purchases, but remember - your pool skills & open water dives are an additional cost when you arrive on resort.

Day 3 and 4 of the show is where attendance starts to wind down a little. So I was able to make some additional business connections around the show floor and meet some of the influencers I follow regularly!

And play with the new camera :)

We also selected our booth space for DEMA 2025 in Orlando, FL! (NOVEMBER 11-14)

DEMA Show tiny planet from our booth! I can't wait to do this at all of our resorts!

This is Gabby of @BlackgirlBlueworld who is an amazing content creator!

And two of my absolute favorite female creators - @waterbearphotography who is an incredibly talented underwater photographer and hosts underwater modeling workshops in Florida through the year!

And @mslunamarie a fabulous underwater model, muse & mermaid! I aspire to do breath holds the way she does! You may catch a glimpse of her on Neftlix's MerPeople series!

Thursday night was PADI's cocktail and member party. As we arrived, everyone received a button with a black or red number on it. It was a fun game they created to help bring more divers together. The goal was to find your matching number in the alternate color. I was Red 475 and resorted to standing on a chair (I'm vertically challenged) in front of the entire ballroom (not spilling my glass of wine, thankyouverymuch) with my number plastered across my phone screen (as many other people utilized their phones since the numbers were small, and it was a dark room). Although I didn't find my dive buddy and thus didn't win a prize, I met so many amazing people from different dive centers that it was a lot of fun! And probably the real point - making connections. (Mr. Clarke's buddy found him!)

The final day of the show is typically the slowest with everyone pretty much in the pack-it-up-and-head-home mentality. With the F1 race happening at the same time as the show and blocking much of the strip, it made a lot of attendees leave earlier than usual but those that stayed had real purpose to stay! We were able to have in depth conversations with groups about bringing 100+ divers for special events to our resorts and how that works operationally!

I did manage to win a raffle for an underwater metal detector too! Hubby will LOVE using that in the streams up in the mountains this summer too.

Around 4:30p you started hearing the clangs of people beginning to tear down their booths. By 5pm the show floor looked almost like it did on Monday with boxes, and people moving about with their hand carry items back and forth to the cars. I took my time packing up what was on the table, breaking down the extra bag holder I brought and making sure everyone that walked by left with a Sandals and Beaches Sticker. At 5:15p I was headed to the bus with my suitcase ready to pack up my hotel room and head to the airport for my redeye flight to DC - it was my sister-in-law's 30th birthday party on Saturday, so I had to be there to celebrate!

It was so nice to not have to break down an entire booth by myself this show - I can't wait to see what ideas come for next year's show!

Overall our DEMA show 2024 was a success! According to some of the early reports, there were over 7,400 registered attendees, assuming the usual 15% no-show rate, we probably saw just over 6,000 in-person attendees. We met dive shops, equipment manufacturers, Travel Advisors and Influencers that will move our brand forward in the coming years as a top dive destination.

Spoiler alert for the poll up top - my bags weighed *almost* the same... I bought all the things :)

Current Promotions Still Rolling!

available to independent rooms and group codes:

Sandals

Beaches

Brand New 7-7-7 Specials for travel in 2024 are released every Wednesday!

Our 7-7-7 Specials are released every Wednesday and include 7 room categories from 7 selected Sandals Resorts, & 7 room categories from our 3 Beaches Resorts priced with an additional 7% off for the next 7 days. This promotion is constantly rolling and those room categories cater to select travel dates.

Booking window is until the following Tuesday at 11:59:59pm.

7-7-7 Specials are combinable with Standard Resort Offers, Loyalty & Travel Discounts and Group Codes (not applicable to Group Contracts)

Call your Travel Advisor or Partnered Dive Shop to find out this week's specials!