More individual appointments. The trade show for the worldwide meetings, incentive travel and events industry, closed on a strong note last week, with IMEX Group Chairman, Ray Bloom, announcing a 21% rise in the number of individual buyer appointments with exhibitors during the show. In total over 64,000 appointments took place between buyers and exhibitors over the three-day trade show, 40,000 of which were made by individual buyers, the remainder being group appointments. Amy Riley of the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority commented: “The show’s been very busy. Appointments have increased from 180 last year to 250 this year, which is huge. We’re meeting a great variety of planners.” Bloom also confirmed that just under 4,000 hosted buyers attended the show from an overall total of nearly 9,000 visitors from around the world. The IMEX Group announced these news this morning.
During the 10th IMEX nearly 140 separate seminars, workshops and short-session campfires took place. Bloom explained: “Without doubt the scope and quality of our education programme now marks IMEX out. It allows all of our participants to prove even stronger ROI so we will continue to review and develop the show’s education to ensure that it keeps delivering good content in the new and exciting formats that the industry demands.” Bloom also remarked on the widely acknowledged success of the 2012 Politicians Forum, which he stated had been the best to date and had effectively “raised the bar for our future Forums.” He explained: “The presence of Gloria Guevara Manzo, Minister of Tourism for Mexico (and member of President Calderon’s Cabinet) in particular said it all. Here was a politician who has committed both passionately and knowledgably to using the meetings and events potential of her country as a catalyst for future growth. The fact that she flew into Frankfurt just to attend the Forum demonstrates the value of IMEX as a global industry showcase and, more particularly, of the Politicians Forum as a platform for powerful statements of intent and of change.”
In summing up, Bloom looked back briefly over the last 10 years and paid tribute to the support of the German meetings industry, including partners from the very beginning: The Frankfurt Tourist Office, Lufthansa, Deutsche Bahn, Messe Frankfurt, CPO-Hanser, the Frankfurt hotels, plus strategic partners, the German Convention Bureau. He also paid tribute to the support of the entire industry – not least the industry trade associations, IMEX’s network of intermediaries and the press. “All have played their part in helping us to grow and develop IMEX since our launch in 2003. We know that we and our clients can rely on them for their exceptional levels of service, efficiency, creativity and partnership. We value them, and look forward to continuing that relationship over the next 10 years here in Frankfurt,” said Bloom.
