More than 15,000 industry professionals took part at the leading event for the meetings and events industry EIBTM held recently in Barcelona, Spain, an increase of eight per cent over last year.

About 80 per cent of attendees (excluding exhibitors) came from Europe, while the trend underlined the American Express Meetings & Events 2015 Global Forecast, which was presented to more than 200 global industry thought leaders on the eve of the first day of the event.

The report indicated that the number of meetings in Europe is predicted to increase, said a statement.

More than 78,000 pre-scheduled appointments and self select were made between Hosted Buyers and exhibitors, which represented a 20 per cent increase over last year, it said.

The association planners have also forecast an increase in their meetings activity, and this year’s show saw the highest number of independent association planners attending with 67 per cent of the 271 planners coming from individual associations and societies, overall the event saw an increase of 12 per cent in attendance by Association Hosted Buyers helped by the launch of a more flexible approach to this year’s Buyer programme, with the introduction of My Association | My Club.  

Jeton Iseni, European project manager, European Huntington’s Disease Network, who participated in the Association programme, said: “I am very pleased with the new flexibility for Association Buyers this year, especially around our appointments diary. The difference is that it has given us a great opportunity and time to meet with others in the industry, share knowledge and network.”

Business optimism across the show floor was also reported by exhibitors, many of whom rated EIBTM as their best trade show of the year, said the statement.

Jim Hensley, chief executive officer of Global DMC Partners, said: “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.”

David Chalmers, marketing director Europe for Cvent, said: “We have been oversubscribed on appointments this year making it our best ever EIBTM. All members of our sales team have fed back on the fantastic quality of buyers whom they have met with and a significant amount of business has been made here as a result of that.”

In Rob Davidson’s annual Industry Trends Report, he highlighted the optimism of the mood in the US meetings market as “very positive according to various studies.”

Annleyg Lamhauge, marketing manager - MICE, Visit Faroe Islands, which was a newcomer to EIBTM, said: “It has been our first time exhibiting at EIBTM and we have been very popular with a lot of interest in our stand. We are finding there is a demand for smaller meetings groups and this works well with our destination. There is a trend to visit the Nordic countries and the surrounding islands. We have met with a lot of good quality buyers at EIBTM and are looking forward to 2015.”

Graeme Barnett, EIBTM senior exhibitor director, said: “You really couldn’t miss the buzz on the show floor this year which I hope was a result of not only economic confidence but also from new initiatives such as the fact that this year exhibitors could top up their diaries with appointments they had requested with buyers – the first time we have trialed this.”
 
Meanwhile, the show has been rebranded from EIBTM as ‘ibtm world - where connections mean everything.’

Announcing the new name for EIBTM, Barnett said: “We’ve emphasised the fact that it’s a global show. Whatever markets our clients are looking to connect with, we’ve got most of the globe covered.”

Together the events in the newly branded ibtm portfolio will 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.  - TradeArabia News Service