Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE) has announced the acquisition of Business Travel Market (BTM), the annual corporate travel conference and exhibition held at London’s ExCeL, for an undisclosed sum.
Launched in 2009 by Paul Robin, BTM was the first event serving the corporate travel sector to successfully accommodate fully hosted key buyers from all over Europe. The event has doubled in size since the first show and has enjoyed consistent support through key players in the business travel industry.
The Business Travel Market will sit within the global portfolio of meetings industry shows led by Craig Moyes, group exhibition director. BTM’s Hosted Buyer and pre-scheduled appointment system matches the business model for the current portfolio of business events run by RTE for the meetings, events and incentives industry, including AIME (Australia), AIBTM (USA), CIBTM (China) EIBTM (Spain), GIBTM (Abu Dhabi), which annually attract over 5,000 suppliers from 100 countries and 17,000 meeting planners with over 100,000 pre-scheduled appointments.
“This acquisition is strategically important to our travel portfolio of events,” Richard Mortimore, managing director of Reed Exhibitions. “We have monitored BTM’s progress with interest, its successful ‘hosted buyer program’ format complements our own. We believe we can further consolidate BTM’s position in Europe as well as develop its brand in other markets where we already operate. It is also clear that corporate travel is integrated within the meetings and events sector, especially in emerging markets, and this will allow us to incorporate this knowledge and expertise and provide added value to our shows around the world.”
“Having established BTM in the face of difficult market conditions and with limited resource, it is as pleasing as it is exciting to look forward to developing BTM as part of the world’s largest event organizer,” said Paul Robin, business travel market event director. “I am grateful to all of our loyal sponsors, partners, clients, suppliers and advisors for their support. I would also like to thank all my colleagues past and present for their dedication. All we ever wanted to do was build an event worthy of this great industry; with Reed’s ownership and expertise, we have the opportunity to make that vision a lasting reality.”
Robin and the team will continue to run the event and will be located within the Reed Travel Exhibitions headquarters in Richmond, England. The 4th Business Travel Market takes place on June 13-14, 2012, at London’s ExCeL.
