This year’s edition of Reed Travel Exhibitions’ annual Americas Incentive, Business Travel & Meetings (AIBTM) exhibition aims once again to provide regional and international buyers with a platform for conducting business and key annual business meetings. AIBTM Director Mike Lyons tells CMW that this year buyers have expressed a direct interest in placing business in Northern and Western Europe.
With growth in Asia and the Americas, why are so many buyers looking at Europe this year?
Reed spends a great deal of time both onsite and post-show, conducting qualitative analysis so that we can understand the business objectives of both suppliers and buyers. Following AIBTM 2013 this research showed that approximately half of AIBTM’s US buyers specifically selected Northern and Western Europe as a key region of interest for placing outbound business. Indeed they said that they would like to see more representation from these regions. This information allows us to see which areas we need to focus on for HB recruitment at the next event!
According to ICCA, the popularity of countries as MICE destinations depends on a wide range of factors, not only connected to the countries themselves and their situation, but also to the type of meeting and how well it relates to the environment of choice. Other factors affecting the meeting planners include the social, political and economic situation of a country, its safety and its accessibility from abroad.
Handa Travel Group’s Sean Hoff, MD of MICE & Corporate Travel, who attended AIBTM 2013 as a US hosted buyer commented: “There has been growing interest and demand from our Canadian groups to break out of North America recently and more willingness to go a little further for something special. Europe offers a unique mix of rich history and culture and diverse culinary options to host incentives and meetings. It is a great option for North Americans, as there are plenty of convenient transportation links, and the total travel time and time-shift is not as much of an obstacle. Europe offers a certain degree of reliability in terms of expectations of service and standards that may not be as consistent in other parts of the world.”
As for Asia – yes the two economies are clearly working closely together hence 33 exhibitors attended CIBTM (Beijing) last year to meet specifically with the Asian buyer.
AIBTM focuses on delivering an event for international exhibitors looking to do business with buyers from the US as well as US suppliers who are not only looking for regional American business but to also attract the eye of the international buyer who has proven business to place in the USA.
What new initiatives will be in effect at the 2014 event?
By being in Orlando this year, there is a lot that’s new for everyone. Firstly, we are set to roll out our newly branded education programme – AIBTM Knowledge. Knowledge is one of our core brand values and according to our research is one of the key reasons for attendance at AIBTM. So expect to see another major keynote session. We are also this year partnering with RecertTrack who are the world’s first online certification portal that enhances the career path of any individual in the M&I sector who is continuing his or her professional certification.
We will also be pioneering a number of speciality show floor features including the Refresh Zone and the Innovation Zone. More details on each of these features will follow in the coming months.
How are you developing your Global Conference Organiser (GCO) programme further this year? Is that a campaign to secure higher attendance going forward?
We are looking to target over 125 GCOs. We’re focusing our efforts on targeting GCOs who have historically reached their individual target numbers for hosted buyers. As 85 per cent of our hosted buyers register via a GCO, the hosted buyer team will focus on helping them perform to their maximum. GCOs consist of AIBTM 2014 exhibitors, media partners and housing bureau companies that service the hospitality industry.
New for 2014, the hosted buyer team will recruit high-level independent meeting professionals to act as GCOs by having them invite their peers to be hosted buyers. The specifics of this new concept include contacting independent meeting planner associations, advertising on meeting planning job boards and promotions on Twitter and digital sites.
Three years in, are you now seeing a differentiation in the approach of the two events AIBTM and IMEX America? Is there any ‘clear blue water’ between the two events, strategically speaking?
As part of the IBTM global events portfolio, we are the IBTM event for the Americas, providing regional and international buyers with a platform from which they can conduct their key annual business meetings. As part of such a vast global network, the show offers countless powerful connections and business opportunities for all attendees. AIBTM delivers the highest concentration of North American hosted buyers than any other MICE exhibition (92 per cent).
Our primary objective when it comes to all aspects of organising the show, is supporting all attendees improve and achieve their business objectives. In order to achieve this, we strive to deliver a more intimate and relaxed experience which allows for ‘real’ business to be done on the show floor. We also offer a number of informal and formal networking opportunities for both hosted buyers and exhibitors attending.
AIBTM was named Best Hosted Buyer Programme by Trade Show Executive magazine, a US-based media company. Voting was completely independent. AIBTM uses an independent hosted buyer qualifier to ensure that only the most qualified buyers attend AIBTM.
You highlighted the involvement of political figures last year. Will you be involving more public sector figureheads in the event next year?
AIBTM has partnership with key industry associations including a strategic partnership with PCMA (the only tradeshow at this high level of partnership), SITE, IAEE, MPI, CSPI and ICCA. We also have co-locations with many other associations including IMMPA (International Medical Meeting Planners) CIS (Certified Incentive Specialist) – Society of Incentive Planners and SPIN Planners (Senior Planners Industry Network).
We will be actively be recruiting the leaders within these associations to participate through education, round table discussion and other networking events.
The event in Baltimore missed many North East coast buyers in the end, but AIBTM grew 10 per cent when you moved it to Chicago last year. What is the thinking behind now shuttling between Chicago and Florida?
Much of this decision was based on careful research and analysis of our customers’ requirements and as a result, we chose to follow the lead of many associations in the US that move their events to a different place each year. The rotation strategy provides us with the opportunity to maximise the enormous potential delivered to AIBTM by both Chicago and Orlando.
The rotation of AIBTM between Chicago and Florida also provides all of our stakeholders with access to new business opportunities in two key gateway cities that are themselves major hubs of the meeting industry.
Orlando is one of the country’s leading meetings destinations, with the award-winning facility of Orange County Convention Center (OCCC). The OCCC is the second largest convention facility in America, and each year attracts more than 200 events.
You claim screening ensures quality at your event, over and above that of IMEX America. How is this enacted in real terms? Is there a blacklist for businesses that don’t make the cut, for example?
The process of screening is fundamental to the objectives of any IBTM event. Quality is imperative and that requires screening. There are Hosted Buyers teams in both the US and the UK that work globally to ensure that every application for the program matches the core recruitment policy.
Exhibitors have the ability to provide feedback once on site about any Hosted Buyer that does not attend an appointment, or in their opinion hasn’t been relevant to their business. This information is then fed back to the Hosted Buyer team for future reference and action.
As for a blacklist, every database is cleaned regularly and of course people are rejected. There are individuals in the industry who maybe on a blacklist but this is of course private. Generally, we find that about 40 per cent of applications to be a Hosted Buyer are rejected.
As we said in the beginning it’s a very intensive process as the quality is the fundamental reason for the success of each event in the IBTM portfolio and that includes AIBTM.
This was first published in issue 75 of CMW. Any comments? Email Zoe Vernor
