Questex Expands Hospitality Portfolio With Acquisition Of Oxford Publishing

Oxford’s signature event, “The Show”, its International Restaurant Show–Las Vegas and Questex’s HotelWorld event are to be co-located, beginning in February 2008, and are at the center of a unique grouping of co-located hospitality events sponsored by a wide range of state, national, international and professional associations and media to create the newly-formed International Hospitality Week® to be held annually in Las Vegas.

“We chose to move forward with Questex as they clearly view the hospitality industry as a top priority,” said president & CEO Ed Meek. “They have an impressive track record of investing in their core hotel- and hospitality-serving media products and have much success launching new products in this market. We are excited to partner with them and tap into their numerous resources. Our customers will truly benefit as we now have many resources at our fingertips to help us grow, at a quicker pace, the business, the event and the marketing opportunities for our supporters and partners.”

“Ed and his team share our vision, entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to serving customers. We are looking forward to combining our resources and working together to drive the growth of the business and create more value for customers in the beverage, food, nightclub, bar and restaurant industries,” said Kerry Gumas, president & CEO of Questex Media Group. “We have already been working together with Ed and his team for several months on plans to bring the hospitality industry a world-class event in the world’s capital of hospitality – Las Vegas – that offers participants an unmatched business and networking experience.”

The new mega-event called International Hospitality Week is set for February 24-27, 2008 at the Las Vegas Convention Center and will feature co-located events including “The Show” which serves the nightclub and bar segment, the International Restaurant Show–Las Vegas and the HotelWorld Expo and Conference.

Oxford will operate as a subsidiary of Questex and continue to be led by its President and CEO Ed Meek and COO Jennifer Robinson and the rest of the current management team. The acquisition also adds other high-profile print and in person brands to Questex’s Hotel and Hospitality Group including Nightclub & Bar, Beer, Wine & Spirits Beverage Retailer, and ¡Salud! y Buen Provecho magazines and regionally-focused events.

A summary of the acquired media brands follows:

“The Show”
Several years ago, the nation’s #1 beverage event, Nightclub & Bar Convention and Trade Show, simply became known as “The Show” attracting thousands of owners, operators and managers from nightclubs, bars, lounges, and pubs. It is an exciting, one-of-a-kind event that attracts more than 800 exhibiting companies and features a comprehensive educational program and nightly networking events at Las Vegas hot spots. It has become the single event in the beverage industry for both on and off premise buyers and sellers. For more information, visit www.nightclub.com.

International Restaurant Show–Las Vegas
This is the fastest growing show specifically for the restaurant and foodservice industries. The event showcases products, services, ideas and innovations and offers specialized culinary events, awards and programs. For more information, visit .

Held together annually at the Las Vegas Convention Center, “The Show” and International Restaurant Show–Las Vegas are co-located to create the largest beverage and food show in the Western Hemisphere and have more than 2,000 booths featuring products and services for every aspect of the hospitality industry. Together, the events attract 30,000 industry professionals from every state in the nation and more than 20 foreign countries.

• Nightclub & Bar Convention and Trade Show
  In addition to the flagship event, “The Show” in Las Vegas, there is an additional East Coast beverage industry show held in Atlantic City on October 8-10, 2007. For more information, visit .
  
  
• Nightclub & Bar Expo Mexico
  To be held for the first time in 2008, the Nightclub & Bar Expo Mexico is a franchise that extends the brand internationally. It is scheduled to be held in Mexico on June 18-19, 2008. For more information, visit .
  
  
• Nightclub & Bar Magazine
  Published monthly for two decades, Nightclub & Bar Magazine has been the leading business magazine reaching 120,000 nightclub and bar owners operators and managers who rely on each issue as the source for ideas, products and tips to help maximize their revenues and build long-term success. Visit www.nightclub.com for more information.
  
  
• ¡Salud! y Buen Provecho
  ¡Salud! y Buen Provecho is the nation’s first publication specifically for Latin bar operators.
  
  
• Nightclub.com
  Nightclub.com is the primary portal for the bar industry and its newsletter “Hub of Hospitality” is a major source of information for owners and operators.

About Questex’s Hotel & Hospitality Group | The Hotel & Hospitality Group consists of HotelWorld Network which encompasses a series of publications and live events that serve the hospitality industry from the flagship publication Hotel & Motel Management magazine, which has been delivering news, analysis and operational strategies to its faithful audience of more than 57,000 hotel owners, general managers and other hotel management for more than 132 years; Hotel Design magazine, the award-winning magazine celebrating the design excellence of hotels, resorts, lodges and destination spas to over 11,000 qualified subscribers; Luxury Hotelier, the exclusive entry into the elite luxury market with a reach of more than 10,000 four-and five- star hotel owners and operators; and, the newly-launched HotelWorld Expo & Conference, which offers an international experience for hotel industry professionals and the industry’s suppliers and manufacturers located throughout the world. In addition, the Hotel & Hospitality Group includes other live events such as the International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF) held in Berlin, which is the leading meeting place in for the European hotel investment community, and HOTEC Design and HOTEC Operations, intimate meeting forums of pre-scheduled appointments between hotel operators, designers, specifiers and suppliers who service the hospitality industry, which are both managed by McLean Events, a Questex subsidiary. The Group is also connected to sister publication Premier Hotels & Resorts which features more than 450 of the world’s best hotels and is must-have resource for luxury agents.

About Questex Media Group | Questex Media Group, Inc. is a global, diversified business-to-business integrated media and information provider, headquartered in Newton, MA. Questex serves multiple industries including technology, beauty, spa, travel, hospitality, leisure, home entertainment, industrial specialties and service industries through a range of well-established, market-leading publications, events, interactive media, research, information and integrated marketing services. The company’s media properties include 81 trade magazines and eNewsletters, 84 websites, 45 conferences tradeshows and events, as well as a range of research, data and information products. The company's businesses are managed through operating companies including Questex Media Group and five subsidiaries; InfoTrends, Inc., the world's leading strategic research and advisory services provider to the document management and communications industries; McLean Events International, Ltd, a world-leading producer of appointment-based events; Imaging Network, a leading business-to-business multimedia marketing company serving the office products channel; Five Star Alliance, the leading online luxury hotel booking service for the affluent traveler; and Oxford Publishing, Inc., publisher and tradeshow producer serving the beverage and food industries. The company's combined operations include more than 450 employees in offices throughout North America, South America, Asia and Europe.