Last year’s trade show certainly raised the bar and expectations for future trade shows, and our staff and board of directors are excited for PCA 2026. Last year, we launched many new social events and programs, and we focused on hospitality. This year, you will see a continuation and enhancement of that concerted effort. Our team believes we can improve year over year without shaking the core foundation of the event or the overall experience. PCA will continue to be a family reunion first and foremost.
As a full-service trade association and leader of the premium cigar industry, PCA has spent the last year soliciting feedback, engaging with key industry stakeholders, learning, improving and innovating through new ideas. The trade show is the centerpiece and culmination of all of that work. It is clear that the trade show and PCA in general are critically important to the overall success of the premium cigar sector domestically in the United States and globally.
If the show is going to be successful year after year (as well as the association), it takes efforts beyond the nine staff members and 19 board members to execute our industry’s marquee event. The trade show and association depend on our thousands of members, including retailers, distributors, manufacturers, brand owners and more. This is your trade show, this is your association, and you are accountable for its success just as much as our team.
Our membership needs to answer the call to deliver quality products, deals, networking and relationship building just as the PCA team delivers a marketplace, logistics and framework for all facets of a major event. We appealed to our manufacturer and retail partners to step up their efforts on the last day of the show, just as we stepped up our efforts to build quality evening receptions each night of the show. President John F. Kennedy said, “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” I would paraphrase and say, ask not what the PCA can do for you—ask what you can do for the PCA. If we collectively answer the call to improve, we will continue this momentum for many years to come.
Fortunately, this year you will see a sold-out trade show floor, thousands of attendees from all over the world, dozens of external receptions, dinners and a four-day holistic extravaganza that will be exhausting, productive and fulfilling. This year, we sold out not only the show floor space but also our sponsorship offerings, which demonstrates the growing demand for attendance at the trade show and involvement in the PCA.
I am proud to preside over this year’s trade show and welcome the many new attendees and exhibitors, as well as our staple members who have been attending this show, in some cases, longer than I have been alive. I am proud of the PCA staff and our team for supporting the industry and our partner events throughout the year, and I hope everyone joins us with the same zeal we brought. I look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new people, smoking my favorite cigars and trying new products, discussing serious advocacy topics and laughing at my inability to dance to reggaeton at receptions.
I hope all PCA 2026 attendees have a memorable moment and that you reflect on why you chose to work in the greatest industry in the world and what you can do to make it better. I will be running around throughout the event and look forward to hearing more feedback, ideas and critiques, as well as what the PCA can do to better serve you throughout the year.
– Joshua Habursky, CEO, Premium Cigar Association (PCA).
This story first appeared in PCA26 Attendee Guide. To receive a copy of this publication, you must be a current PCA member. Join or renew today at premiumcigars.org/membership.