Who Visits?
"The
hallmark of this show is the presence of real high level buyers from all over
the world."
Lennart Johannsson, Director, Goteborg Convention Bureau, Sweden
IMEX is unique in attracting thousands of meetings and incentive travel executives from around the world, together with over 4,300 buyers from the valuable German outbound market.
Hosted Buyers
Over 3,600 hosted buyers from around the world will attend IMEX 2009 as guests of the show. To qualify for the hosted buyer programme buyers must be agency, association or corporate buyers responsible for planning, organising, recommending or making financial decisions for any of these events outside their home country:
corporate meetings and hospitality, incentive travel programmes, association meetings, conferences, seminars, exhibitions, roadshows, product launches, promotional events, training programmes.
The programme ensures that key buyers in the global meetings and incentive travel industry attend the show as invited guests, maximising the sales potential for exhibitors.
Research amongst hosted buyers confirms that over 50% hold annual budgets of US$500,000 or over, with 33% responsible for more than US$1 million spend per year. 10% of these buyers attended from long-haul markets outside Western Europe, including the USA, Australia, South America, Asia, Middle East and South Africa.
Non-hosted Buyers
IMEX 2008 attracted 5,067 non-hosted buyers from 97 countries, including thousands of German decision makers from the world's third largest outbound meetings and incentive travel market, representing US$50 bn per year. Independent research* confirms the potential for further growth:
-
Over 40% of meeting planners in Germany, Austria and Switzerland carried out more events compared to the previous year
-
30% of German meeting planners handle an annual volume of over 10,000 room nights
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The majority of German meeting planners organise all types of events with 95% of those surveyed organising incentives, 94% conferences and meetings and 56% organising congresses and large events
*Source: tmf - Travel Marketing Factory GmbH/MICE market monitor 2007
"A great show, very focused...
delivered exactly the type of client we wish to meet."
John Licence, Vice President Global Sales, Europe & South Asia,
Marriott International
