Business Boomed During IMEX 2006 in Germany

The opening of the largest IMEX ever, with 3,300 exhibitors from 150 countries occupying Messe Frankfurt´s Hall 8 and filling a record 16,500 square meters of floor space, came to an end in Germany.

With 3,400 hosted buyers and several thousand trade visitors from Germany and the rest of the world attending the three-day gathering, IMEX 2006 panned out to be the biggest and busiest to date.

Every single continent underwent expansion at IMEX this year. Among those destinations taking more space were Bulgaria, Croatia, Dubai, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Morocco, Romania, Poland, Spain and Turkey.

The exhibition also welcomed a long list of new exhibitors this year including Abu Dhabi, Cuba, Costa Rica, Greater Boston CVB, Hawaii Visitor and Convention Bureau, Israel Ministry of Tourism, Kenya, Mauritius, Peru, Taipei International Convention Centre and Skyteam.

Further growth and commitment was evident from the hotel sector, which was 30 percent bigger this time around, partly due to 17 of IMEX´s existing exhibitors increasing their stand space.

Among these were Accor Dorint, Hilton Hotels, Hyatt Hotels, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, Ritz Carlton Hotels and Starwood Hotels & Resorts. This sector´s expansion was also reinforced by the first-time attendance of several new names including Best Western, NH-Hotels and Rocco Forte.

The IMEX Hosted Buyer Program also posted considerable growth since 2005. It now incorporated corporate, agency and association buyers from almost 60 world markets, all of whom travel and stay as guests of the organizers.