Las Vegas News Bureau
Crowds traverse the exterior displays at the SEMA show in the Las Vegas Convention Center, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2019. (Mark Damon/Las Vegas News Bureau)
Monday, Nov. 1, 2021 | 11:18 a.m.
The return this week of a big automotive products trade show is expected to draw as many as 100,000 people to the Las Vegas Convention Center, tourism and event officials said.
The Specialty Equipment Market Association show, commonly known as SEMA, opens Tuesday, after being canceled last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. It runs through Thursday, followed by a public event on Friday dubbed “SEMA Ignited” in the convention center parking area.
A companion event, the Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo, will be held at the Sands Expo and Convention Center — part of what the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority dubs Automotive Aftermarket Industry Week.
SEMA represents a multi-billion-dollar automotive aftermarket industry and has been held in Las Vegas since 1977, when it moved from the Anaheim Convention Center in California.
Electric vehicles will be featured this year, and convention attendees will be able to ride Tesla vehicles in the nearly 1-mile (1.6-kilometer) underground people mover built between convention center stops by Elon Musk’s The Boring Co.
SEMA executive Tom Gattuso told the Las Vegas Review-Journal the show this year has 51,000 registered buyers and could host 100,000 industry professionals.
