THE 22nd edition of EIBTM (European Incentive, Business Travel and Meetings event), held in Barcelona, attracted 3,125 exhibiting companies from more than 90 countries and created three days packed with non-stop meetings and activities.
Organiser, Reed Travel Exhbitions, launched many new features, created a record 59 professional education sessions and held 100-plus events in and around the show.
Elling Hamso of the European Event ROI Institute commented that he actually found it ‘annoying’ that it had taken him 45 minutes to get from one end of the hall to the other for a meeting because there were so many people on the show floor. “I reckon that Wednesday was a record day for EIBTM, congratulations,” he said.
Whilst EIBTM took place in a week that saw some of the worst weather conditions to hit Northern Europe in many years, all stands were open for business from the first day. However, some hosted buyers from the UK were stranded when Gatwick closed and remained closed for 48 hours. As a result, this year´s unaudited figures will reflect a small drop in hosted buyers – currently 3,582 – 245 less than 2009.
However the number of trade visitors was 4,010, reflecting a five per cent increase on the previous year. Total attendance reached 8,395, a one per cent increase on 2009. “We tried to do everything in our power to get these buyers out of the UK but sadly, the conditions prevented them leaving. However, we are obviously delighted that those who did get to the event – some having travelled via alternative routes, and many taking up to 12 hours to arrive – proved that this was where they needed to be for their business,” said Graeme Barnett, event director for EIBTM.
He added that Reed is in the process of contacting buyers who didn´t make it to the show to help them make contact with exhibitors they had planned to meet.
“One of the new initiatives this year was the introduction of EIBTM TV – a live news channel broadcast on screens around the show floor. Also online at www.eibtm.com, the content means those buyers who didn´t attend have been able to view three days of event news and will be able to see the education sessions and presentations as well at a later date,” said Barnett.
This year´s new format CEO Summit attracted 60 industry leaders from around the world who listened to three speakers including UK economist Professor Dominic Swords who spoke of the ‘huge business potential for the industry in post recession growth with signs that the global economy is improving and CEOs are signing off discretionary spend, as people become cautiously optimistic’. When he asked the audience for opinions on this statement 75 per cent of CEO leaders said their businesses had seen a shift in optimism over the past year.
Nik Racic, director Croatian Convention and Incentive Bureau, said: “Multinational companies are starting to spend money once again on meetings, so things are slowly recovering.”
The professional education programme, a highlight of EIBTM, and delivering a record 59 seminars, workshops and conferences, reported positive feedback from delegates reaffirming that the event is meeting the needs of the global industry.
Hosted buyers undertook more than 55,000 pre-scheduled appointments, a 1.35 per cent increase on 2009 (subject to final confirmation) and Thomas Morano, vice president meetings and conferences American Financial Services Association commented: “I can attest there is no other experience better in connecting with the industry. It is probably the largest gathering of peers anywhere”.