At a time when some big name meetings and incentive show operators have been licking their wounds after changes didn’t go the way they expected, it’s quite something to see the European juggernaut that is Imex pulling in the buyers. An estimated 4,000 are expected to converge on Frankfurt Messe, the city’s huge expo complex over the next two to three days.
The Frankfurt version of the show got underway today with Asia Pacific strongly represented. Karen Bollinger, CEO of Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Bureau, is here, as is Peter King, who heads that city’s waterfront convention centre, which has been given the go ahead for expansion. ICC Sydney, due to open towards the end of 2016, is also in Frankfurt to drive home the message that convention facilities at Darling Harbour will soon enough be a force to be reckoned with.
Helping to round out the Aussie tub-thumping are Adelaide, boasting its new developments around the Oval Cricket Ground, and Gold Coast, which climbed up the ICCA rankings in 2014 by doubling the amount of association conferences hosted in the city. See our Updates story here.
Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand and Sri Lanka are also getting their message across to European buyers who are still considered a vital source of business event revenue in Asia.
MIX is on the floor at Imex Frankfurt to learn of the new developments and the ideas being generated by destinations and planners alike. I’m looking forward to meeting any of you who have ventured to Germany and, if not, MIX will see you in Asia next week.
