EIBTM 2014 Ends Year on a High Note

EIBTM closed last Thursday with over 15,500 (8 percent increase on 2013) industry professionals onsite for the three days of the show. With over 80 percent of attendees (excluding exhibitors) coming from Europe, the trend underlines the American Express Meetings & Events 2015 Global Forecast presented to over 200 global industry thought leaders on the eve of the first day of the event. The report indicated that the number of meetings in Europe is predicted to increase.

At the same time, trade visitor numbers are also up by nearly 8%. EIBTM attracted nearly 70% of trade visitors from Spain supporting the country’s positive economic recovery which was highlighted in the same report. Some 78,436 pre-scheduled appointments and, for the first time, self-select were made between Hosted Buyers and exhibitors, a 20% increase over last year.

Association planners are also forecasting an increase in their meetings activity, and this year’s show has seen the highest number of independent Association planners attending with 67% of the 271 planners coming from individual associations and societies, overall the event saw an increase of 12% in attendance by Association Hosted Buyers helped by the launch of a more flexible approach to this year’s Buyer program, with the introduction of My Association | My Club.

Jeton Iseni, European Project Manager, European Huntington’s Disease Network, who participated in the Association program commented; “I am very pleased with the new flexibility for Association Buyers this year, especially around our appointments diary. The difference is that it has given us a great opportunity and time to meet with others in the industry, share knowledge and network.”

Business optimism across the show floor was also reported by exhibitors, many of whom rated EIBTM as their best trade show of the year.

Jim Hensley, CEO, Global DMC Partners; “EIBTM is the strongest and busiest show in our trade show calendar. We’ve had more appointments each day here than we have had in entire trade shows. The buyers we have seen have been good quality and most importantly ready to do business with proposals in place, rather than general enquiries. We are very optimistic about the future business we will place thanks to EIBTM.”

David Chalmers, Marketing Director Europe for Cvent Inc.; “We have been oversubscribed on appointments this year making it our best ever EIBTM. All members of our sales team have fed back on the fantastic quality of buyers whom they have met with and a significant amount of business has been made here as a result of that.”

In Rob Davidson’s annual Industry Trends Report, he highlighted the optimism of the mood in the U.S. meetings market as “very positive according to various studies”. Supporting this trend for business, Deanne Boynton Grupp, VP Tourism for Scottsdale Convention & Visitors Bureau commented; “it’s been the best EIBTM for many years in terms of number of appointments, quality and the diverse nationalities of buyers wanting to do business with us.”

This year’s new EIBTM concierge service was also recognized as an important initiative: Isabel Agrelo, Communication Manager, Global Sales Division, Accor; “We have been extremely busy at EIBTM with over 800 appointments across the three days. We have met with some very interesting sales leads and there will be some positive contracts to come. The new concierge service provided by EIBTM this year has been extremely useful to us, helping us find a solution to every problem straight away. We can/t wait to return in 2015.”

Newcomer to EIBTM, The Faroe Islands was looking to find business from the event and Annleyg Lamhauge, Marketing Manager – MICE, Visit Faroe Islands commented: “It has been our first time exhibiting at EIBTM and we have been very popular with a lot of interest in our stand. We are finding there is a demand for smaller meetings groups and this works well with our destination. There is a trend to visit the Nordic countries and the surrounding islands. We have met with a lot of good quality buyers at EIBTM and are looking forward to 2015.”

“You really couldn’t miss the buzz on the show floor this year which I hope was a result of not only economic confidence but also from new initiatives such as the fact that this year exhibitors could top up their diaries with appointments they had requested with buyers – the first time we have trialed this,” commented Graeme Barnett, EIBTM Senior Exhibition Director.

Finally from the close of this year’s show, EIBTM is to be rebranded as IBTM world - where connections mean everything.  IBTM world will join its sister events IBTM Arabia, IBTM Africa, IBTM America, IBTM china and IBTM India under the IBTM events umbrella along with AIME in Melbourne and the recently announced ICOMEX in Mexico.

Announcing the new name for EIBTM, Graeme Barnett said; “We’ve emphasized the fact that it’s a global show. Whatever markets our clients are looking to connect with, we’ve got most of the globe covered”. Together the events in the newly branded IBTM portfolio annually provide access to more than 5,000 suppliers from 100 countries, 19,000 event organizers and more than 110,000 pre-scheduled meetings take place."

IBTM World will take place in Barcelona from 17-19 November 2015.