AIBTM – The Americas Meetings & Events Exhibition – has announced that it will be welcoming 2,000 Hosted Buyers to the most eagerly anticipated US meetings event in 2011. AIBTM takes place in Baltimore June 21 – 23, 2011.
Steve Knight, Project Manager for AIBTM comments: “We have been delighted by the meetings industry’s response to the launch of AIBTM throughout the United States and internationally; both in terms of inquiries and committed exhibitor bookings. So much so, that we have increased the number of Hosted Buyers we are set to host, to ensure that we maintain the ideal Buyer and supplier ratio.
“The profile and importance of AIBTM has been considerably raised since the co-location announcement of PCMA’s annual education conference and CIC’s Hall of Leaders Gala which will run alongside AIBTM in Baltimore.
“AIBTM will be the first truly large scale Hosted Buyer event of 2011 in the US Meetings Industry.”
Additionally, the creation by AIBTM of a dedicated America Meetings Week will raise the profile of the industry to the wider business market and political community across North America. The Week will focus on the economic contribution which meetings and events make to the economy, the number of jobs supported and the positive benefits which effective meetings and events bring to business development and communication.
The 2,000 Hosted Buyers will be made up predominantly of US based meeting planners with domestic and international business as well as those from Canada, Mexico, Latin America, Asia and Europe.
Buyers from associations, incentive houses, corporate and independent meeting planners who organize, influence or make budgetary decisions for meetings, incentive and business travel, conventions and congresses, product launches or events are eligible to apply for Hosted Buyer status.
With Reed Travel Exhibitions responsible for organizing the leading international Hosted Buyer led events – EIBTM (Barcelona, Spain); GIBTM (Abu Dhabi, UAE), CIBTM (Beijing, China) and AIME (Melbourne, Australia) – the AIBTM Hosted Buyer Program offers a highly effective way for high level decision makers to meet suppliers through an online pre-scheduled appointment system. This guarantees that buyers meet exhibitors that they are predominantly interested in doing business with.
Hosted Buyers can also receive many exclusive benefits including complimentary travel, hotel accommodations and transfers during their time at AIBTM.
As well as the 2,000 Hosted Buyers, AIBTM is set to attract thousands of meeting planners located in cities within three hours drive of Baltimore – over 13,000; from New York and Washington DC (the hub for associations and government meeting planners), Pittsburgh and Philadelphia (home to major agencies such as Maritz) and New Jersey (home to many pharmaceutical companies).
AIBTM’s business opportunities have been recognized by major US exhibitor signings including Atlantic City, Denver, Chicago, Fort Worth, Houston, Boston, Miami, Visit Florida, Las Vegas, New York City, and Orlando/Orange County.
These will be joined by the Canadian Tourism Commission, Mexico Tourism Board and destinations further afield including Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands and Austria.
Other exhibitors include Silversea Cruises, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Royal Caribbean, Sol Melia and Fairmont-Raffles-Swissotel.
For further information on AIBTM and for those interested in becoming a Hosted Buyer log on to www.aibtm.com <http://www.aibtm.com>. Official Hosted Buyer registration will go live on January 11 2011.
