The Meetings Show, the premier event for the UK inbound and outbound meetings industry, is set to achieve growth across all parts of the show when it opens its doors for the third time on July 7. Taking place through July 9 at Olympia, London, the show is organized by meeting professionals for meeting professionals and focused around a large exhibition, networking opportunities and professional education.
Highlights include corporate, healthcare, meetings design and technology education streams as well as extensive networking and new business opportunities.
- Hosted buyers are up 20 percent to 868
- A 27 percent increase in hosted buyers attending from the UK
- More than 11,000 pre-booked appointments are expected to take place
- Registrations at the Association Meetings Conference grew by 49 percent
- The show floor increased by more than 10 percent
- More than 600 exhibiting organizations will be in attendance
“This is the biggest hosted buyer program the UK has ever seen,” commented Steve Knight, event director, The Meetings Show. “We have seen growth across all parts of the show and look forward to delivering a fantastic event at Olympia next week. The show is once again built on strong education, networking and business opportunities and we expect to see high attendance from all parts of the industry including corporate meeting planners, agencies, associations, public sector, PAs and not for profit organizations.
“Our decision to offer a flexible approach to hosted buyer attendance is paying dividends. More than half of our buyers have opted to attend the show for two nights, giving them more time to meet exhibitors, learn and conduct business. In turn this equates to the equivalent of around 400 extra buyers attending more than 3,000 extra appointments.”
Exhibitors at The Meetings Show are also benefiting from the opportunity to take part in a Destination Showcase. Taking place throughout the show alongside the education program, these sessions are an opportunity for destinations to present together in workshop style to demonstrate their offering to the buyers and visitors in a non-competitive and succinct way.
For the 2016 edition, show organizers announced The Meetings Show will move to a larger venue at Olympia Grand and to new dates from June 14-16 to accommodate growth – almost 30 percent increase in floor space since the Show’s debut in 2013. The move means the show will be unified in a single more cohesive environment.
The Association Meetings Conference, which has seen a 49 percent growth since 2014, will move in line with the new dates to June 13, 2016.
“This week’s show is bigger than 2014 in so many ways and we look forward to welcoming meetings professionals from around the globe over the course of the next three days,” stated Knight. “We have more than 600 exhibitors, a 20 percent increase in hosted buyers and more than 12,000 preschedule appointments. The industry has voted with its feet – the hosted buyer model is clearly wanted by both the supply and demand side of the industry and the changes for 2016 will ensure the needs of the industry are met. As one of London’s most iconic venues, Olympia Grand is the perfect location for the show – it offers more space and plenty of room to grow as we continue to increase our industry presence.”
For more information, visit themeetingsshow.com
