IBTM Americas 2023: One on One with Ben Dunster

IBTM Americas 2023 took place for two days in Mexico City and Caribbean News Digital had the opportunity to sit down with Ben Dunster, Head of Sales IBTM World and Head of Digital and Sponsorship Sales at RXUK.

When and where did IBTM come into being?

IBTM has been around for about 35 years, originally started in Zurich and then since then we've had IBTM World, which is usually called IBTM. We started in Zurich and now it takes place in Barcelona. And then we've had a number of IBTM events take place all over the world at present. We have the show here, the route of the moment here in Mexico City of Americas, which is the start of our year for us. We have this great show which takes place in September, and then we have our IBTM World show, which takes place in Barcelona in November.

What was the driving force behind the decision to move the show to Barcelona?

I honestly can't tell you that because it was a long time before I started. So, obviously we're very happy to be hosted by Barcelona, which is an amazing city for events. As a leading city, Barcelona has always topped the rankings. So we're very happy to have our event in Barcelona. Obviously, it's a great pleasure for our buyers to come and experience the city and also for our exhibitors to come and enjoy the culture of Barcelona. We're very happy for Barcelona to be our partner and continue to host the event.

How many countries and representatives will be attending the show in Barcelona?

This year we're looking at having a really strong representation from all over the world that will have in excess of 60 countries represented. We obviously have been based in Europe and therefore we have a very strong representation from all of our European destinations. We have a number of regions and countries from Europe represented this year. 

We're very excited to welcome back a number of countries from the Americas region. So, we will be represented by Mexico and Colombia. We're also having a number of U.S. states to be represented. We're also excited to welcome back a number of our countries from Asia, including China and Hong Kong, that are returning to the show this year and that hadn't been to the shows of 2019 obviously due to the pandemic.

As far as the number of attendees is concerned, we're looking to host over 2,500 buyers at the event this year. So, we work with a team from RX to host some of those buyers directly so that they get in contact because we want those buyers to attend. 

In addition to that, we have other attendees coming to the show. Some of those attendees will be qualified as visitor buyers. They'll be attending the event also. So all in all, we expect over 10,000 attendees, including those hosted buyers, trade visitors, visitor buyers and others.

What was the reason that moved you to open a fair in Mexico?

I think it's a great opportunity. I mean, I can't say I'm an expert on the Mexican region, not probably as much as you guys here interviewing me. But this is my first time here in Mexico City. And from what I can see, it's a very vibrant event. There's a lot of opportunities. 

Everybody I'm talking to, especially from the International exhibitors, are talking about how large the opportunity is for Mexican businesses looking for events. And I'm sure that's the same domestically as well. So, you can see this event is growing year on year and as I can see, it's a great reason for us to host the event. And obviously we're looking forward to welcoming Mexico to IBTM World in Barcelona.

Are there any plans in store to expand IBTM to other countries or regions?

We were looking to launch IBTM AIPAC in 2020, which obviously due to the pandemic we were able to run. That's an event that we are looking to hopefully launch again in the near future. We're still very much in the planning phase. So yes, as I said, it was supposed to launch in 2020. Obviously, the world changed due to circumstances we all are glad are over. But yes, we're looking at that as an opportunity. But we're not in position yet to launch.

Do you believe virtual events could affect in-person events in the near future?

Look at us here today. I think we can tell that virtual events will not replace live events. I think what we are seeing is really important, is the element of digital to enhance face-to-face events. 

So, we've got a number of tools that we use across both IBTM Americas and IBTM World that allow exhibitors to track the people and their meeting record notes, that allow them to kind of see who's seen their profiles before the show. And so many different tools are now available to enhance exhibitors’ experience at the show, and also provide datasets to really prove that return on investment. 

So, to answer your question, no, we don't believe that those events are going to replace live events. But digital is very important to the event space and because we're an RX. We're a leader in creating more and more digital products and in enhancing the experience for our exhibitors.