Florence. The best show of the last few years: BTC, Italy’s events and conference tourism exhibition, closed last week, after having registered record figures on all fronts. The market rewarded the return to Florence and the change of dates with double the numbers in attendance: the total attendance figure came out at 6,724 over the two days of the show, compared with 3,300 last year.
The show registered strong growth on all fronts: exhibitor numbers were up 22%, with 313 companies present, while international buyers increased by 40%, with 300 events and conference organisers from 22 countries (mainly from Europe, Russia, Brazil, India, China, Japan, the US) interested in making contact with Italian and international supply-side operators.
7,152 appointments were held between international buyers and sellers, an increase of 32% on the previous show.
BTC 2013 welcomed more than 100 new exhibitors: these included three important international tourism boards, from Israel, Mexico and Poland.
Italy presented the conference offer of Tuscany, Puglia, Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Sicily, Liguria, Emilia Romagna, Basilicata and the City of Turin.
This record-breaking show further confirmed BTC’s strategic role for the sector: a marketplace for the industry and a great opportunity to present new projects, discuss innovation and plan change.
BTC provided a concrete response to an industry in search of the right stage to express all of its potential: the sector is valued at USD 1,000 billion worldwide, and accounts for 25% of global tourist traffic. In Italy alone, it employees 300,000 people and generates GDP of approximately EUR 15,000 billion (source: conference industry financial data, University of Bologna).
Gian Luigi Piacenti, chairman of Exmedia, the TTG Italia (Rimini Fiera Group) company that organises BTC, commented: “with this edition of BTC, we are convinced that we have fulfilled our remit, offering companies new business opportunities and our country a great deal of food for thought on events’ value for destinations and business as a whole. We hope that the sector and institutions can use this as a launching pad to meet the demand for innovation, development and growth from the whole meetings industry”.
The 30th BTC will be held in Florence on 11 and 12 November 2014.
