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AIME 2003 LAUNCHED AT EIBTM STRONG GROWTH PREDICTED FOR ASIA PACIFIC AND AIME

29 May 2002
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Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE) is expecting AIME - its AsiaPacific Incentives and Meetings Expo - to expand in 2003, following predictions of strong growth for the region.

AIME 2003 was officially launched last week at EIBTM. Hosted Buyer application forms for AIME are now available on the AIME website.

Speaking at the launch of AIME 2003, Tom Nutley, Managing Director of RTE said, "A number of expert sources are saying that there will be a comeback for the industry towards the end of this year, but particularly in the Asia Pacific Region.

"Many of the positive factors for the region are the same as those, which, since the 1990s, have been tempting growing numbers of leisure tourists to go there: relatively low airfares, novelty value, perceived value-for-money and a clean and safe environment.

"Much of its international meetings market arises from the fast expansion of business and travel links within the Asia Pacific Region.

"In number of meetings per continent between 1993-2000, Australia/Pacific has had a 62% increase in international meetings held since 1993. This is the highest growth area, particularly when compared to the average growth over all continents in total from 1993-2000, which is 6.5%."

AIME 2003 will be held on 18 & 19 February at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre in Australia. AIME is the southern hemisphere's most significant event for the incentive and business travel industry, drawing approximately 600 exhibitors from 51 destinations throughout the Asia Pacific region, the Middle East, South Africa, Europe and the USA and Canada, and attracting 2,500 visitors from 37 countries. (AIME 2002 Visitor Survey - unaudited)

"The industry support for AIME this year was remarkable," said AIME Exhibition Manager, David Crooke. "Despite the world turmoil in the lead up to the exhibition, the event covered more square metres than ever before, with many exhibitors increasing their space, and regions such as Asia covering more space than ever before.

"The companies exhibiting in AIME 2002 were focused on promoting their products and services in innovative ways and with great enthusiasm. That enthusiasm was met with renewed optimism, as event bookings began to flow again."

A survey of AIME 2002 exhibitors, delegates and hosted delegates, just released by independent research company Events Tourism Research, confirms the positive anecdotal reports. (AIME 2002 – Events Tourism Research)

94.6% of exhibitors surveyed stated that their primary objective for exhibiting at AIME was to generate new sales leads. Exhibitors reported the following number of business leads were generated as a direct result of AIME 2002.

 

   
# of leads generated  Percentage of exhibitors
   
1 - 10 41.4%
11 - 20 23.1%
21 - 40 19.4%
41 - 60 9.7%
61 + 6.4%
   

 

Estimated value of business generated by individual exhibitors ranged between AUD$3,000 and AUD$4.5 million.

Exhibitors were happy with the number and quality of buyers at AIME, and with the RTE innovations such as the Online Diary System and Seller Meets Buyer sessions. Exhibitors' only disappointment was with the number of buyers attending from the United States, down from last year for obvious reasons. 

When asked if they would exhibit at AIME 2003, 67.7% of exhibitors said they would definitely return to AIME and a further 27% indicated that they would possibly return.

Exhibitors were asked to nominate the type of delegate/buyer they 'most preferred' or 'preferred' to meet at AIME. 67.3% nominated association buyers, 90% corporate buyers, 59.6% government buyers, 93.8% meetings/conference buyers, 76.1% incentive buyers and 48.2% exhibition buyers (multiple answers accepted).

Delegates, both hosted and non hosted, also took part in the survey.

71% of hosted delegates reported they had either placed or intended to place business with exhibitors they had met at AIME, while 28.2% said they would possibly place business. All hosted delegates were satisfied with their visit to AIME and 77.5% of hosted delegates said they would definitely return to AIME.

The average estimated value of business placed by individual hosted delegates at AIME was AUD$560,000, with some delegates expected to generate business worth up to AUD $4.5 million.

Hosted delegates rated the Pre Scheduled Appointment system very highly. 76.2% said the system was excellent or very good and 13.6% average.

Hosted delegates were overwhelmingly supportive of the Online Diary System with only 1.5% not as satisfied with it. 91.5% of hosted delegates found the diversity of product at AIME to be excellent or very good.

90.4% of hosted delegates used the AIME website and of those, 78.5% rated it excellent or very good.

Other aspects of AIME 2003 rated excellent or very good included the exhibition layout (86.6%), the venue (94.3%) and the RTE on-site staff (92.4%).

Hosted delegates also reported they would like more time at AIME, as almost all of them had full appointment schedules. In response to this RTE is providing more time for hosted delegates to make their own additional appointments with exhibitors at AIME.

65.6% of non hosted delegates surveyed said they visited AIME to place business or possibly place business. In order of importance, they were most interested in Australian, Asia and American exhibits at AIME, with 17% saying they were interested in all exhibitors. 78.1% of these delegates described the diversity of exhibits as excellent or very good.

Non hosted delegates surveyed were planning events with an average attendance of 2000 people and an average cost of AUD$400,000, with some delegates looking at expenditure of up to AUD$5 million. These delegates were planning events to be held later this year, or over the next three years.

RTE is considering all comments made by exhibitors, hosted delegates and delegates to ensure that AIME is improved even further in 2003.

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