Individual Business Appointments Up 21 Percent for 10th IMEX in Frankfurt

The 10th anniversary edition of IMEX in Frankfurt, the award-winning trade show for the worldwide meetings, incentive travel and events industry, closed on a strong note with IMEX Group Chairman, Ray Bloom, announcing a 21% rise in the number of individual buyer appointments with exhibitors during the show.  

In total over 64,000 appointments took place between buyers and exhibitors over the three-day trade show, 40,000 of which were made by individual buyers, the remainder being group appointments.

Bloom also confirmed that just under 4,000 hosted buyers attended the show from an overall total of nearly 9,000 visitors from around the world.  The high quality of buyers was also widely remarked upon.
               
He explained that appointment numbers are a key business indictor as they represent planned, face to face meetings between buyers and suppliers on their stands. He mentioned two particular testimonials from exhibitors that reflected this year’s results.

The 10th IMEX also succeeded in delivering its most ambitious education program to date, with nearly 140 separate seminars, workshops and short-session campfires taking place. The informal campfires were first introduced last year to allow intimate discussions with subject experts to take place on the show floor.  

Sessions on social media, innovative event design and sustainable meetings and events were attended in especially high numbers this year, with many of the German Convention Bureau’s German language seminars also being presented to jam-packed crowds.

New for 2013 Bloom announced a dedicated education program just for corporate buyers next year. “The model will be similar to Association Day, although smaller in scope, and will enable us to bring in more high quality corporate buyers from leading markets around the world.”