Ibtm america 2016, taking place this June in Nashville, Tennessee, has confirmed an impressive global line-up of Association, Agency and Corporate Hosted Buyers attending from the US, Canada, Latin America, Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Asia and more.
 
Registered Hosted Buyers have confirmed their product interests among exhibitors, with hotels and conference/meeting venues being the top two picks. Other event products to make the list include special event venues, Destination Management Companies, resorts and spas, and destinations. Among those buyers the two most popular event types were conferences/meetings and incentives, followed by exhibitions, conventions/congresses, staff training/motivation, and business and luxury travel.
 
Jaime McAuley, event director, ibtm america, said: “We have a great line-up of Hosted Buyers this year; not only do we have elite buyers with proven budget and business to place attending from all around the world, but we have a diverse group with a variety of products interests and this will increase the opportunity for our exhibitors to make connections at the event. And with our 100 per cent mutually matched appointment system, we can ensure that all of our Hosted Buyers and exhibitors are only attending relevant, valuable appointments likely to result in business opportunities and ROI.”
 
Hosted Buyers have also indicated the regions in which they are most interested in placing business, with 98 per cent of buyers looking to place business in the US and 81 per cent interested in placing business internationally. Domestically buyers placed particular emphasis on wanting to meet exhibitors from the Western US (98 per cent) and the Southeast (97 per cent). Internationally buyers were most interested in Canada, Latin America, and Europe.
 
McAuley said: “These preferences are really on trend with where the industry is right now. Rob Davidson, managing director of MICE Knowledge, predicted in his 2015 Trends Report that 2016 will see an increase across all meeting types in North America, so it’s not surprising that both our regional and international buyers are looking to place business in Canada and the US. Davidson also noted how Latin America’s close business and cultural ties to the US, which make it especially attractive for US-based meeting groups, have played a large role in the Latin American MICE industry’s growth, so we expect this to continue to be a region of interest among our Hosted Buyers.”
 
Some of the Hosted Buyers attending this year include Philips (Brazil), Rimac Seguros y reaseguros (Peru), Hurricane Action Sports (Canada), Montreal Event Planner (Canada), Lenovo (China), GECK'O Incentives & Events (Germany), Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited (India), and Fullteam Networks (Mexico), among others.
 
Veronica Carletto, project manager, Fourth Wall Events, who will attend as a Hosted Buyer said: “My objective is to learn about new hotels and services that I can share with my organisation and offer our clients. I am interested in looking at the 5-star luxury brands in Europe and Asia.”

Fred Williams, Conference Manager, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, also a Hosted Buyer for 2016 commented, “Face-to-face meetings are critical to understanding city and hotel updates as well as special offers. Cities, hotels, airlines, audiovisual, and exhibition companies are the types of exhibitors I wish to meet.”

Ibtm america will run from June 15 to 17 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville. - TradeArabia News Service