IBTM launches new tradeshow for Asia Pacific

IBTM, part of Reed Travel Exhibitions, has announced the launch of a new business event, IBTM Asia Pacific. The organiser says it will take place 6-8 April 2020 in Singapore at the Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre. The new show joins IBTM’s existing portfolio which includes IBTM World in Barcelona; IBTM Americas in Mexico City; IBTM China in Beijing; IBTM Arabia in the UAE and IBTM Africa, in Cape Town. The launch comes after a period of consolidation around the ‘mother ship’ show IBTM World, as the regional satellite IBTMs tended to become more boutique in nature and moving to a table-top format. IBTM Asia Pacific will aim to bring together APAC regional and local meeting planners and exhibitors for two days of pre-scheduled one-to-one business meetings, education and networking. The event will include a hosted buyer programme. Shane Hannam (pictured), Portfolio Director, IBTM, commented: “Launching a new event for the Asia Pacific market is not only exciting for the IBTM brand, it is also supported by the fact that the region’s business events industry is expected to see the highest growth rate in the world to reach US$441.1bn by 2025*. “It’s a market we know very well, and our research has shown that there’s genuine demand for a regionally focused event both from our existing customer base but also from the industry in general. It’s an exciting new addition to the industry calendar not only for IBTM, but also for the wider business events market.” Hannam added that the event would also allow RTE to implement a strategic shift for its IBTM China event, which, he said, would now “re-focus on bringing together the highest quality Chinese buyers to meet with international exhibitors and international buyers to do business with Chinese exhibitors”. Hannam said: “Singapore is considered as APAC’s regional hub for the business events market and that, combined with its excellent infrastructure and long-standing reputation as a global business destination mean that it was the natural choice as our host city.” IBTM Asia Pacific will be led by Event Manager Michael Jones, who has been with Reed Exhibitions for almost six years. The marketing and hosted buyer programme will be managed by the existing team based in Richmond, London, supported by Reed Exhibition’s teams in Singapore and Japan. The event will be preceded by a day of local tours for international buyers. Full details of the education sessions and networking programme are promised in coming weeks. More information: www.ibtmasiapacific.com. * Allied Market Research