AMERICAS - An exit survey of IMEX America hosted buyers has revealed that total orders placed onsite amounted to US$281m with an expected $1.9bn worth of orders to be placed with exhibitors in the next nine months.

The average value of orders placed by hosted buyers during the show was $496,000 each, with post-show average orders expected to be worth $1m each.

Two thousand hosted buyers attended the first ever IMEX America at the Sands Expo in Las Vegas in October. Seventy five per cent were from the USA; five per cent from Canada and the remainder from 34 other countries, with Brazil, the UK, Germany, Mexico, India and Australia accounting for significant numbers. Seven hundred of the show’s 2,000 hosted buyers answered the survey (a representative 35% sample).

A total of 1,867 companies exhibited at IMEX America representing 147 countries. With US destinations accounting for 27 per cent of all booths, these results bode well for US suppliers as well as those international exhibitors who attended in order to capture new business from US buyers.
 
Likewise, an exit survey was also conducted among IMEX America non-hosted buyers (known as buyer attendees). This buyer group placed business in the region of $89m with exhibitors during the show, and expects to place $538m of orders within the next 10 months.

With these business performance figures in hand, IMEX Chairman, Ray Bloom, declared: “IMEX America has succeeded in bringing the US and global industry the business, education and networking benefits we planned for. Our fresh new business model, centered on a strategic partnership with MPI and strong partnerships with the other leading industry associations, meant that IMEX America truly provided a global marketplace on American soil. We are now looking forward to developing several aspects of the show over the next few months in order to sustain that debut success and to build on the market momentum we’ve established.”

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