EIBTM 2013, which was held from November 4 to7 in Barcelona, Spain, has reported that exhibitors, buyers and visitors reflected the positive trends witnessed in the industry this year, with over 65,000 pre-scheduled appointments taking place plus a 7.7 per cent increase in trade visitor attendance, 40 per cent of them first timers to the event also added to the increased business opportunities.
Graeme Barnett, Reed Travel Exhibitions, senior exhibition director says: “We really hope that all of the new initiatives we implemented this year, and the effort put in to securing a quality driven Hosted Buyer programme and increase in trade visitors, helped contribute to the great sense of revived optimism across the show floor. We have also received overwhelming positive feedback from exhibitors and buyers about our new show floor layout and the additional networking areas also clearly added to the vibrant business atmosphere. By the end of the show we had already re-booked more than 35 per cent of the floor for 2014!”
Two major research reports presented onsite including the findings of Rob Davidson’s EIBTM Industry Trends Report and The Right Solution’s IBTM Global Research. Both recorded increased levels of optimism as the meetings and events industry continues to remain “critical drivers assisting organisations in their efforts to reach their strategic business objectives”.
The Hosted Buyer programme focused on quality with attendance from 70 key European countries including UK, Italy, Germany, France, Poland and Benelux, as well as long haul destinations including US, Asia, Africa, Brazil and India.
This year’s new pre-booked Innovation Zone guided tours for Hosted Buyers were also over-subscribed with a limit that topped 500 buyers.
More than 7,700 destination presentation places were booked by Hosted Buyers, with 138 exhibitors in advance of the show.
The extended EIBTM Live programme (building on the 2012 Hybrid Conference) streamed sessions extending the reach of the EIBTM Knowledge Programme and FRESH conference sessions globally with tweets from as far and wide as Canada, Switzerland, Italy and Netherlands.
EIBTM 2014 will take place from November 18 to 20.