Frankfurt, May 24 2011 – The ninth IMEX exhibition for the worldwide meetings, incentive travel and events industry opens today with an exceptionally strong international hosted buyer programme in place and, with more than 90 seminars and workshops over three days, its biggest ever line-up of English and German professional education.
Exhibitor diversity
There are 39 brand new or returning stands to IMEX this year and 37 exhibiting companies who have taken bigger stands in order to capitalise on the show’s outstanding business opportunities. European organisations account for just over half of all exhibition space with significant increases having been taken by established exhibitors including Croatia, Hungary, Paris, Switzerland and The Netherlands. The Balearics and the Gdansk Convention Bureau are taking their own stands for the first time; whilst both Latvia and Lithuania make welcome returns to the show. The Germany (GCB) stand also features over 200 German exhibitors for the first time.
Building on the significant increases seen in 2010 from Asia Pacific, new exhibitors from the region include The Philippines and Malla Travel & Trek– Nepal. Thailand, Singapore and Australia have all increased their stands. African and Middle Eastern representation has also increased since last year, with Bahrain returning, Israel increasing by over 40% and Tanzania and Dragonfly Africa (DMC) as new exhibitors. Space taken by Latin American exhibitors has increased by 10% since 2010 – both Chile and Costa Rica are returning and Colombia are taking 43% more space. A strong turnout of North American exhibitors includes larger stands from Canada, Boston and Las Vegas.
Hotel groups are once again a noticeably strong part of the show. Amongst the new exhibitors in this sector are Divan Hotels, H10 Hotels Spain, Louvre Hotels and Oberoi Hotels & Resorts. Space increases have been taken by Corinthia Hotels, Steigenberger Hotel Group and Mandarin Oriental; whilst Hyatt International Hotels & Resorts returns.
In another sign that business recovery is building steadily, many new private sector companies are represented. Among these new exhibitors are: American Express; MaxChoice; Charisma Travel and Top Voyages (Morocco). Similarly, space taken by technology companies has risen by 40% compared to 2010.
Hosted buyer strength and depth
As well as thousands of top buyers from across Europe, the IMEX organisers have once again focused on ensuring that high quality, long-haul hosted buyers attend the show in big numbers (a record 3,870 hosted buyers attended in 2010). The BRICS countries are well represented this year (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and there is also strong representation from South Africa, Asia, the Middle East and North America. In an effort to ensure that buyers stay longer at the show, the organisers have increased the programme length for many European buyers who now join long-haul buyers in spending three full days on the show-floor.
Hosted buyers from multinational companies including American Express, Cisco, Credit Suisse, Clarins, KPMG, McKinsey, Nestle, Nike, Oracle, Proctor & Gamble and Siemens will all be present over the next three days. Merck Global Meetings, SportAccord and AC Forum members also bring substantial global buying power. Merck alone has an annual meetings budget of over $700 million, whilst AC Forum members plan some of the biggest association conventions in the world. A record 300-plus association buyers also attended IMEX Association Day & Evening yesterday (May 23).
Educational reach
The 2011 education programme offers a record 90 seminars and educational events in both English and German. These are all provided free of charge and with no need to book. The introduction of a new IMEX App, developed with Meetings Professionals International and QuickMobile (and sponsored by the Switzerland Convention & Incentive Bureau) however, makes choosing which events to attend quick and easy. IMEX’s partnership with Meetings Mindset® will also be evident throughout the show demonstrating how attendees can maximise their business and performance opportunities.
Green learning opportunities
Drop-in ‘green’ workshops on the Corporate Responsibility Centre, which is ‘powered’ by GMIC (Green Meeting Industry Council), will provide expert guidance and information on: Managing Event Burnout; Ethical Manufacturing; APEX Meeting Standards Explained and Engaging Stakeholders for Change.
German language seminars are split into key topic areas: Social media, CSR/ green, association management, business travel and legal issues. Each day features a key well-known speaker including Dieter Baumann – a famous German athlete – and social media expert, Sascha Lobo.
IMEX will also be the platform for publication of some important industry research. tmf dialogue marketing GmbH and IMEX’s Mice Market Monitor (mmm) and the EVVC and GCB’s Meeting and Event Barometer Germany 2011 are just two of those being revealed.
Other important IMEX New Vision initiatives over the next few days include a private meeting of corporate buyers and industry leaders who will convene as part of Meetings for Success under the moderation of Eric Rozenberg, Chairman of MPI and President, Swantegy. Meetings for Success is part of IMEX’s ongoing effort to support corporate meeting buyers as they strive to secure Board approval and promote better understanding of the full value of meetings and events.
The IMEX-MPI Future Leaders Forum (FLF) is also set to greet over 100 students who will attend a full day of education and networking as well as experiencing the show at first hand. FLFs now take place 14 times a year in various countries and provide focus and momentum for recruiting bright and talented young professionals into the meetings industry.
At the show’s opening ceremony earlier today IMEX Chairman, Ray Bloom, asserted the fact that the international meetings industry never fails to be both innovative and resilient. Extensive and credible market research, such as CIC’s US Meetings Industry Economic Impact Study, has given the meetings industry a new language, “one of valid and significant contribution to national GDP,” stated Bloom.
He continued: “This single study has been much anticipated. It has also created huge momentum within our industry, such that several other countries are now following suit. The results of CIC’s Economic Impact Study will form the major part of our debate with politicians at the IMEX Politicians Forum today. Figures from this and other studies now give the meetings industry a voice and a measure of representation and influence equal to other industry sectors.
“I hope that your time at IMEX this week will also confirm how profitable, exciting and rewarding this industry can be. We are pleased that IMEX plays a valuable role in bringing the industry together each year and in driving the success of this largely hidden sector, which is now rightfully receiving the wider economic recognition it deserves.”
