S.L. In my opinion a high percentage of satisfied exhibitors and Hosted Buyers reflects the obvious success of an exhibition. How doyou compare such business reputation and commercial success of ibtm world with the other ibtmevents?

G.B. ibtm world is not only the flagship show for the ibtm events portfolio but it is considered a vital and strategic annual meeting place for the international meetings industry. With some 15,500 industry professionals in attendance, it is the global brand awareness alongside the business meetings, networking and education that makes it an important 3 days in the calendar for meetings, events and incentive planners and suppliers from across the globe.

The best way to highlight what makes ibtm world a top industry show is to let our participants do the talking – after all, they are the reason for ibtm world’s ongoing success. Here are a few comments we’ve received following last year’s event:

Elena Yazeva, Head of Sales, Saint Petersburg Convention Bureau commented: “ibtm worldis the number one show for European based DMOs, providing opportunities to find new business with thousands of meeting planners from all over the world. The show is an industry barometer, giving an idea of where we are now and where we should head to.”

Jim Hensley, CEO, Global DMC Partners comments, “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.”

Isabel Agrelo, Communication Manager, Global Sales Division, Accor commented, “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. We can’t wait to return in 2015.”

Sandrine Camia, Director Monaco Convention Bureau also commented, “EIBTM 2014 has been our most successful show since I have been the Director of the Monaco Convention Bureau. The quality and quantity of the buyers visiting our booth have been very good, and all our partners had a very good show with numerous serious requests for proposals.”

Hosted Buyer Pieter Rossouw, Owner, Diverso, commented: “The communication to inform hosted buyers of upcoming events, appointments and e-mails were five star. The standard of destination presentations were the best I’ve seen and the quality of meetings with exhibitors first class.”

Mr Gerard Dawson, Director, Destination Marketing Bsl, United Kingdom also commented: “An annual 'must attend' for me to meet with current and future suppliers and network with industry contacts!”

Mr FerdianWidjaja, Regional Business Apac, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, Singapore, added further: “A great experience which was effective to meet our global preferred suppliers and new potential suppliers for strengthening partnership and potentially build new partnership under one roof.”

Similarly our regional shows have become important events for the markets they serve.The core difference between ibtm world and the rest ofibtm events,which includes ibtmarabia, ibtmindia, ibtmafrica, ibtmamerica,ibtm china, AIME and ICOMEXis the fact that all of the other events aretailored to the regional markets they serve, they are focused and dedicated to developing the meetings industry whether inbound or outbound.

Together,ibtm events annually provide access to more than 5,000 suppliers from 100 countries, 19,000 event organisers and more than 110,000 pre-scheduled meetings take place.

S.L. What confidential weapon you used to achieve such success and the international recognition of ibtm world.

G.B. For us what’s very important is to listen to our customers. We are continually working to add value for each of our exhibitors, Hosted Buyers and trade visitors attending the show and implement new initiatives as a direct result of the feedback we’ve received from them.

S.L. Please share with us with some key news of the coming event.

G.B. New for ibtm world 2015, exhibitors will now have the opportunity to further influence their pre-scheduled appointments and increase the number of relevant appointments at ibtm world, thanks to our mutual match appointment system. Suppliers will now be able to select Hosted Buyers they want to meet with. Hosted Buyers will do the same and our sophisticated appointment system will match appointments according to both buyer and exhibitor preferences, which will create more relevant appointments, meaning better ROI.

This year we will also be offeringthe Technology and Event Service providers further Flexible Stand Optionsfor the 2015 show, with the “space-only” option which will allow our customers to design their stand in line with their branding and show objectives.

Further to this, the Technology Watch award has been developed further and will become the Technology and Innovation Watch 2015 Award. This new name will illustrate the evolution of the award,recognising the importance of both innovation and technology.

The process of the award will also change with 10 submissions being shortlisted and selected by the judging panel to feature in the Innovation Zone as one of the top 10 innovations identified to move the industry forward. One of these top ten will then be selected as the winner (voted by the panel before the show), and will be benefit from a global promotion, presence in the Innovation Zone and a chance to pitch/present its product at the show in November. The remaining nine will also be invited to showcase their products at the show.

New exhibitors who have already been confirmed to attend the show includeBasque Tours, Europalco, Konduko, Padcelona and Ministère de l’Economie, Direction générale du tourisme.

ibtm world will also once again provide opportunities for not only some downtime and social activity, but to also develop more business contacts in a more leisurely atmosphere and will feature specific sessions in its Knowledge Programme that relate to: Connections Mean Everything, Putting Meeting Design into Practice, Tools for Planner Productivity, Industry Engagement, Inspiration from Outside, Innovative Events and Leading Lights for Leading Events.

S.L. ibtm world can be compared to be the pulse of MICE-business of the planet. ibtm world is the first one to get an idea of which markets grow and fall, the new innovations and technologies used to carry out events which will come to the market soon, etc. Is it possible to share with our audience some new trends before the show?

G.B. Technology is probably one of the areas of the show floor that provides exponential growth, and ibtm world is considered to be the leading forum to address this trend in a very significant way. From the Technology and Innovation Watch Award to the dynamic Innovation Zone where innovators and entrepreneurs with technological talent and ideas can showcase the future in action through live and interactive experiences and attend education sessions to enhance their knowledge.

The ibtm world Knowledge Programme will also feature research that will give the industry an insight into trends as we head towards 2020 and Rob Davidsons’s annual Trends Watch Report will be one of the highlights. This report really consolidates a year of global insights and looks at the impact of what this year has delivered on trends for the future and specifically 2016.

Editor mice.ru Svetlana Lougovaya