ANALYSIS Reed adds America show to meetings and events portfolio

After adding Gulf and China shows to its meetings, conference, events and incentive travel offering, from June 2010 Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE) will deliver on its promise to produce an America’s version.

AIBTM – the Americas Incentive Business Travel and Meetings Exhibition – is scheduled to be held in Baltimore, Maryland from 29 June to 1 July 2010. This new major event completes the company’s established portfolio of ‘IBTM’ exhibitions, specifically serving the global meetings industry marketplace.

AIBTM joins EIBTM in Barcelona, GIBTM in Abu Dhabi, and CIBTM in Beijing. The portfolio also includes AIME, Melbourne and the ICCA Congress Exhibition held in a different destination each year.

Careful planning
“Following a two-year research and business development plan for AIBTM, it was clear that there was a real need and demand for an Americas event that delivered domestic and international exhibitors and buyers,” explained Paul Kennedy, group exhibition director of Reed Travel Exhibitions Meetings and Incentive Events.

“AIBTM will be based on the hugely successful EIBTM model and, with our considerable expertise and reputation in the meetings sector in providing best business, best education and best networking, is highly targeted, matching exhibitors with quality hosted buyers and visitors with the power to do business.”

Finding the right city
In choosing Baltimore to host an event that Reed promise will become the Americas leading meetings event, Kennedy added: “It was essential to find a city that had a first class venue with excellent on-site facilities, a variety of quality hotel stock and a transport infrastructure that included airports with extensive air routes to cater for the international audience arriving from all over Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Far East and of course North America.

“What impressed us most was the enthusiasm, desire and ability shown by the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association, The Convention Center, destination management companies and hotels. We have made a terrific choice in Baltimore, which will host what must be considered the biggest fam trip the city will ever see. AIBTM is well and truly in good hands.”

Five-year schedule
Speaking at the launch yesterday, Tom Noonan, president and chief executive of the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association, said: “This is a major coup for our city. We are delighted to have been chosen as the host city for AIBTM for at least the next five years, and look forward to working with Reed Travel Exhibitions Meetings and Incentive Events team led by Paul Kennedy. They are widely respected and have an international reputation in organising and running events for the meetings industry.”

AIBTM will witness the first truly large-scale international hosted buyer programme in the Americas, enhanced by a substantial domestic hosted buyer and trade visitor population. Baltimore is well-located to draw upon the world’s largest concentration of meetings planners situated in the North East USA.

Popular choice
Leading industry figures have welcomed the launch.

“RTE has positioned itself as the global meeting and event industry marketplace leader and we look forward to extending our global partnership with them at AIBTM,” commented Bruce MacMillan, president and chief executive of Meeting Professionals International.

Meanwhile chief executive of the ICCA, Martin Sirk, said: “We’re delighted to welcome the launch of AIBTM as a genuinely international meetings industry trade show in the USA, and feel certain that the hosted buyer business model, which RTE uses for EIBTM and the rest of the portfolio will prove to be a big winner with this new event. I am certain there will be enthusiastic support for AIBTM by ICCA members from all regions of the world.”

Dates for AIBTM from 2011 – 2014 are as follows:
21 – 23 June 2011
19 – 21 June 2012
18 – 20 June 2013
17 – 19 June 2014