Brief introduction to Incentive business travel and meeting Exhibitions

                                                                  
IBTM or incentive business travel and meeting exhibitions are a set of five 5- star exhibitions conducted in five different continents for the players of MICE ( meeting, incentive travel, confrences and exhibition)  industry. These are conducted by “Reed Travel Exhibition” a company specializing in conduction of international exhibition and business tourism events. There are a total of five events conducted annually namely:-


• GIBTM ( Abu Dhabi, Gulf)

• AIME ( Melbourne, Australia)

• AIBTM ( Balitmore, America)

• CIBTM ( Beijing, China)

• EIBTM( Barcelona, Europe)
These international exhibitions for the meeting industry provide a strong platform for the suppliers and buyers of the industry to interact with each other in a friendly but professional manner. These places serve the following purposes:-

• Selling and buying of “MICE” products and services between suppliers and hosted buyers.



• Training and education: - training and guest lectures are conducted by industry veterans there by imparting cutting edge knowledge on latest happenings of the industry.



• Social networking between members of the industry.

Suppliers: - suppliers include all the suppliers that directly or indirectly supply products and services for conduction of business and corporate meetings and events. These are event planners, venues, destinations, meeting planners, business travel agents, cruise planners, decorators, media agencies, Technical firms specializing in meeting metrics, IT services etc, logistic companies, airlines, hotels and resorts, spas, business accommodation companies, PCOs( professional conference organizers),

Hosted Buyers: - are the individuals who make meetings and events related decisions for corporations, associations and agencies etc.

Advantages of such events:-

• It provides an opportunity to all the related players of the “MICE” industry to interact with each other under one roof.

• Though professional but the overall atmosphere is very jovial and relaxed. There by providing a better incentive for individuals to interact with each other

• It helps in promoting and branding a particular geographical location to the investor and business community spread across the globe.

• Lot of economical and unique branding opportunities are available such as putting the name or logo on E-newsletter, website, merchandizes, gallery, Floor space etc.

• Availability of a wide range of services and products under one roof.

• Since participants visit from various parts of the world and various sectors of the industry it provides a unique networking opportunity to the participants.



The five important 5 –star events are described below:-

• AIBTM: - American incentive business travel and meeting will be conducted at Baltimore convention center, Balitmore, USA from 21st June to 23rd June this year. 1st day is an education program where as the next two days will be trade shows. The full list of exhibitors attending the event is yet to be published.

• GIBTM: - Gulf incentive business travel & meeting exhibition will be conducted at Abu Dhabi national exhibition center (ADNEC) from 28-30 March this year. Last year GIBTM was a huge success with over 1888 meeting professionals attending the event. There were 261 hosted buyers and 1500 trade visitors. (GIBTM, 2011)

• AIME: - Asia pacific meeting and incentive expo will be conducted for 19th time at Melbourne convention and exhibition center, Melbourne, Australia on 15-16 February, 2011. It is expected that this 3600 suppliers and buyers along with 850 exhibitors from 50 countries will be visiting AIME this year.

• CIBTM: - China incentive business travel and meeting exhibition will be held at Chinese national convention center (CNCC), Beijing, China from 30th August to 1st September this year. Last year exhibitors from 26 countries visited CIBTM. ( CIBTM.com, 2010)

• EIBTM: - 23rd European incentive business travel and meeting exhibition will be conducted from 29th Nov to 1st Dec this year at Barcelona Spain. The preliminary activities for the event are still on. The last year was also a huge success. This year’s 22nd EIBTM attracted 3,125 exhibiting companies from over 90 countries. The number of trade visitors was 4,010 reflecting a 5% increase on last year and total attendance including Hosted Buyers reached 8,395, a 1% increase on 2009 (unaudited figures). Hosted Buyers at the show undertook more than 57,300 Pre scheduled appointments, a 1.35% increase on 2009. ( EIBTM 2011, 2010)



REFERENCE:-

1. GIBTM 2011, 2011, GIBTM 2011 featured, available at < http://www.gibtm.com/files/gibtm_2010_stats_a4_2pp_final_online.pdf>

2. CIBTM home page, 2010, CIBTM celebrates another record year, available at < http://www.cibtm.com/en/Press/Press-releases/CIBTM-celebrates-another-record-year/>

3. EIBTM 2011 Home page , 2010, EIBTM 2010 press release, available at < http://www.eibtm.com/page.cfm/Action=Press/PressID=868/t=m>