London. Yesterday started the Meetings Show UK, which is taking place at Olympia, London until Thursday. Over the three days of the show, more than 6,500 pre-scheduled appointments will be conducted. Here are some reactions of attendees:
Steve Millar, Membership Director of the PRCA: “I’ve had back to back meetings. It’s been great. I’ve met lots of really good exhibitors, lots of ideas and venues which I would never usually think of for our international side of business. This format has been brilliant. Sometimes the most interesting people are those you don’t intend to meet so I put a few wild cards in there as well just to mix it up a bit, and that’s been really good. “
Catarina Orim, Portuguese Speech and Language Therapist Association: “I think [an event like this] is the best way to travel around Europe – I’ve seen a lot of countries here, I’ve seen what they have to offer and I can manage my time at an event like this. Its very well organised – the stands, the space – we’re very well looked after!”
Heledd Williams, Head of Cardiff Convention Bureau: “We’re very excited to be part of the show. It’s new and it’s different. We’ve been very busy and the quality of buyer is very good and we’ve had a good amount of enquiries. There’s been a great buzz around the show. You can hear business being conducted. The venue is great – it’s all really positive. We have five partners with us and they’re all really happy. “
Adam Faries, Conference and Events Sales Manager, Royal Garden Hotel: “We had a great first day. The show is giving us access to new buyers – 90% of our appointments are new buyers which is what we were looking for.”
Chad Shiver, Conventions Manager, Japan National Tourism Organisation,: “The quality of the buyers at The Meetings Show UK has been fantastic. We have had a range of both UK and International buyers on the stand, many with little prior experience of Japan but a genuine interest to place business in the near future. One in particular was a substantial Association looking to place a large event in the Far East in 2021 – our presence here cemented the relationship and believe we will be their preferred choice. We also had a large number of drop-in appointments, again with genuine business to place, which confirms the organiser’s statement that the buyer are here in numbers, even if they are not all taking advantage of the hosted buyer programme.”
Nicola Chapman, Director of Sales, Hotel Bookings and Business Travel Agents, Hilton Worldwide: “The Show is small and intimate but really good quality. Our stand is in a great location. We wanted to meet new contacts, and have done so from Spain, Italy, Portugal as well as good old blighty.”
The Meetings Show UK has also featured more than 190 separate education sessions, an Association Conference at The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, bespoke corporate, agency, pharmaceutical, healthcare and technology mini conferences, industry focused keynotes, the launch of the full UK Economic Impact Study and a host of networking opportunities.
