CIBTM 2012 opened on Sept. 12 with its best-attended event for promoting the meetings, incentives, business travel and events industry in China and Asia.
This year’s CIBTM is set to be the event’s biggest to date with more than 5,000 meetings
industry professionals expected to participate over three days of the event, a 15 percent increase in pre-scheduled business appointments between hosted buyers and suppliers, 398 exhibitors on the show and an 18 percent increase in the number of exhibitors from China. Hosted buyers from firms and organizations in 18 nations are slated to attend, which is a 36 percent increase from a year ago.
“We are delighted with the response we have had to CIBTM this year, in particular the increase in hosted buyers from China. This year we spent time in the regions building awareness of the MICE industry through a number of road shows and one of the reasons for the 36 percent increase in hosted buyers is a direct result of our work in the second- and third-tier cities around China,” said Jeffrey Xu, CIBTM project manager, Reed Travel Exhibitions.
“We have also doubled the number of corporate and association buyers from Beijing. As one of the key measurements for the success of our show is gauged by the amount of business leads created between buyers and suppliers, and with 8,459 pre-scheduled appointments already confirmed, this is a very positive start to the show,” said Xu.
There will be more than 19 dedicated education sessions during CIBTM delivered through strategic partnerships with leading associations, including Meetings Professional International, International Congress and Convention Association and the Association of Corporate Travel Executives.
