“This is the biggest US show I have seen”
OVERWHELMING PRAISE CONFIRMS THE US SUPPORTS AIBTM
BUSINESS, EDUCATION AND ROCK AND ROLL
From Boston to Dallas, Las Vegas to New York, Texas to Washington, those representing the US that took part in the first ever AIBTM and America Meetings Week, have voted it an overwhelming success in delivering business and business prospects.
Gary Musich of Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority said: “The format is excellent. For a first time show it’s awesome. We have seen a lot of new faces, that’s the biggest deal. The industry needed a new format and this is it. We couldn’t be more pleased.”
Mike Fegley, VP of American Sales for IHG commented: “I have an army of sales people and a lot of hotels from around the world, plus we brought in some 60 Hosted Buyers. By 10am on the first day we had 450 appointments on our books – it has been phenomenal for us.”
Liz Erikson, Executive Director, Meeting & Incentives – North America, Fairmont Hotels added: “We really have enjoyed the appointments. The Hosted Buyer program with the appointment schedule is really an added benefit to a trade show.
We are rebooking for next year because of that quality. There are many industries represented you don’t just have associations but you have a lot of incentive houses that have come, and a lot of third parties. I think it is an excellent meeting place and I think with the proper nurturing this show will grow. We’ve been busy, appointments back to back, it’s fabulous.”
Buyer Richard Gregg of Revent said: “Being from Australia, the American market is opening up huge, so it’s good to see a show that has so many US destinations. This is the biggest American show I have seen.”
Joseph I. Vina, VP and Managing Director, of International at Conferencedirect, USA added his support for AIBTM: “I have been to all the RTE shows, you should be proud of this one, vendors have told me it was worth their time and investment, we bought 16 buyers here this year all focused on quality and between them their average annual meetings budget is about $1.5 million, each. It was well worth our time, and we will be back next year. I would encourage anyone from the east and west coast of the US to be part of AIBTM and we will be encouraging others to do the same.”
International exhibitors also represented on the show floor were happy to add their praise of the organizers for the quality Hosted Buyer audience and the fact that trade visitors were also only allowed admission after they were qualified.
Gareth Walters, Director of Sales, Emirates Palace commented: “The first AIBTM has proven to be a success. The quality of the hosted buyers has been tremendous and we are leaving the show with live enquiries for groups, conferences andincentives. The US market is tangibly interested in new International destinations and AIBTM is the essential showcase that destinations, dmcs and hotels need to attend to ensure the relationships and awareness is in place.”
Alessandro Sansa from the Madrid Convention Bureau, Spain said: “We are trying to promote the city of Madrid and attract new meetings business – there are 9 cities in the US directly linked to Madrid with flights so we are here to tell the US meetings industry that we are their home in Europe. We have had a great positive experience here.”
Eva De Snoo of Marriott Hotels participating on the Netherlands CVB booth said: “I think it’s been wonderful, people had business for us and they want to come to Europe and want to come to Amsterdam.”
“Strategically we are delighted with the feedback from this first event. We achieved a ratio in excess of 1:1 Hosted Buyer to Supplier, the first Education Day was standing room only, and walking down the aisles you could see business being achieved which is also testament to the fact that we already have 60 contracts signed representing over one third of the show for 2012”, said Steve Knight Project Director for AIBTM.
Part of the successful education content included 3 sessions on technology. “The seminars I attended were interesting. Mobile apps and how to make better use of social networking are some things I want to learn more about”, said Mark McDonald of Goodyear Tire & Rubber.
For the first time in the history of the US meetings industry AIBTM held an Education Day aimed at providing insightfultopics of interest to both buyers and suppliers. The program was overbooked for every one of the 21 sessions.
“The decision to provide education for exhibitors as well as meeting planners was clearly the right one” said Erica Keogan, Associations & Education Manager for AIBTM. “The response from the industry has confirmedthat the subjects, speakers, sessions and content was right on target and the format will certainly be replicated for 2012”, she continued.
Tom Noonan, CEO Visit Baltimore: “The reason for us hosting AIBTM was because Reed wanted to be in America and we’re in the middle of meeting planner land up and down the east coast. That’s great but for us this is a perception game changer. For a lot of customers from around the world, this maybe their first time here. Even some domestic customers in the Chicago market or west coast market haven’t been here in 5 or 10 years or maybe ever. And to walk in and see this city in June, with some of our best weather and see what we’ve done here at the convention center, the downtown, the hotels and the tourism community, it’s a real game changer for us. And we’ve got a lot of great comments from customers throughout the city during this week. It’s been great.”
Every RTE event is independently audited and official figures will not be available until this is achieved. However end of show stats include the following:
Exhibitors – 789
Total number of booths – 183
Registered Hosted Buyers – 740
Total number of appointments -11,200
CEO Summit – 55
Attending Media – 66
Other highlights of the first America Meetings Week included the CIC Hall of Leaders Gala, the PCMA Annual Conference, various networking events and a unique opportunity for a 1000 of the AIBTM community who won tickets to see the U2 live concert as part of their world tour. The evening took place at the M & T Stadium in Baltimore, in front of an audience of 75,000 people.
Kerstin Hoffman, Editor-in-Chief, CIM magazine, Germany said of the U2 concert: “It was brilliant, energizing and kept me awake until 5am German time – this is really something, considering I am pushing 50. ”
Hear what exhibitors had to say at AIBTM: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oolkj2jTwzg
