The first edition of IMEX America opened Tuesday at the Sands Expo and Convention Center, Venetian/Palazzo in Las Vegas with roughly 2,000 hosted buyers and 1,867 worldwide exhibitors, 800 of which are from the U.S.
Designed after the award-winning annual IMEX in Frankfurt, IMEX America offers a model new to the U.S. market, with prequalified, hosted buyers paired with exhibitors, an approach that has been very well received, according to Ray Bloom, IMEX Group Chairman.
“Our global and U.S. exhibitors and buyers have responded with great interest and enthusiasm to the IMEX America hosted buyer model, with the result that over 20,000 individual appointments had already been made between buyers and exhibitors before the show doors opened,” Bloom said at a press conference on the opening day of the show, adding that with group appointments, the total increases to 30,000, and he expects that number to further rise before the show closes Thursday.
Bruce MacMillan, president and CEO of MPI, IMEX America’s strategic partner and premier education provider, expressed enthusiasm for the show’s superb turnout.
“You don’t see an American trade show here, you see a global event,” MacMillan said.
John Caparella, president and COO of The Venetian, The Palazzo and the Sands Expo, echoed that sentiment, pointing toward Vegas as the ideal stage for the inaugural IMEX America—the largest trade show and biggest hosted buyer event for the U.S. meetings, conventions and incentives market.
“You’re in the city of cities when it comes to hosting meetings and conventions,” Caparella said, citing the destination’s solid infrastructure and endless entertainment options.
Aimed at providing a wealth of business opportunities, networking events and professional development programs, the show will also present 90 live educational events, along with the MPI MeetDifferent Day of Education and Innovation.
Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, provided a promising picture of the economic outlook for the U.S. meetings industry during his “Meetings Mean Business” campaign update on opening day.
The campaign, launched to address misguided Washington, D.C., political rhetoric that was putting the meetings industry at risk, has vastly improved the perspective of how important the meetings industry is to the U.S. economy, according to Dow.
