The 15th AsiaPacific Incentives & Meetings Expo was described as a sure-fire success by Reed Exhibitions, and plenty of exhibitors and delegates were inclined to agree.
While some said numbers appeared to be down, as evidenced by foot traffic (audited total attendance including media was 2603), many more were thrilled at the level of attendance and RFPs (requests for proposals).
“The feedback from exhibitors, trade visitors and hosted buyers has been that this year AIME really lifted the bar in all areas,” said AIME exhibition director, Rosemarie Sama.
“There has been amazing feedback on the success of the social events this year – the Welcome Reception, Discover Victoria, held at the MCG, the Dine on the Docks Dinner, complete with a spectacular fireworks display and the Crown Supper Party at the new Studio 3. Melbourne Convention + Visitors Bureau (MCVB) really showcased Melbourne in a way that will not be forgotten.”
Ms Sama said that the success of AIME 2007 was due to a number of new features and a commitment to each year improving the quality of the buyer and trade visitor audience.
“The quality of hosted buyers and trade visitors was excellent and the return to February resulted in an even better event than last year. We had an extremely good response to our new features – our One Day Packages, Ask the Experts Stand, Reward, Merchandise and Incentive section, Pamper Zone, International Espresso Bar with global news and our special Love Lounge, a one-off gesture for Valentine’s Day,” she said.
David Bosse from Hilton Hotels said: “We aimed to improve the quality of the appointments we had and this has been easily achieved with the quality of visitors attending AIME this year.”
Michelle Alice Thoo from the Singapore Tourism Board said that AIME 2007 was “much better than last year. We have had a better range of visitors and we are really glad that it’s back in its February slot.”
Annabel Davis from the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre agreed, saying: “AIME is always a good show for us and this year is no exception. It is good to have it back in its February spot.”
Nick Larkworthy from Virgin Atlantic said that previously the airline had judged performance based on the quantity of people coming through. “That’s not valid anymore, it’s all about quality and that’s what we’ve got here. We have already been making group bookings.”
Jemima Hoile from Dubai was also happy with the attendance.
“It might be because Dubai is such a hot topic at the moment, but we have been busy since the show opened, with loads of appointments, both pre-booked appointments and others turning up throughout the show.”
Diana Moore, sales & marketing manager of Event Venues Rotorua, said sharing a booth with the Rotorua Convention Centre under the 100% Pure New Zealand banner resulted in plenty of interest from buyers.
“Event Venues Rotorua received good leads for larger conferences which will be followed up on,” she said.
“Overall, it seemed that traffic had decreased and the calibre of the buyers has dropped a little. The networking function at the MCG was a good opportunity to catch up with fellow colleagues in the industry and to meet new buyers from other countries. Good catering helped make this an enjoyable function.
“The New Zealand stand hosted wine and nibbles on the first day with New Zealand wines proving popular and showcasing the various NZ wine regions that are now highly regarded worldwide.”
Australia’s North West Tourism’s Danelle Jackson said AIME was good for her, however, she believed the numbers to be slightly down compared to the 2006 event.
“We nearly didn’t come because last year’s event was held in June, but it has definitely been worth it,” she said.
“I’ve seen a few new buyers who we haven’t targeted before. For us it’s really about building the profile and raising awareness of our region and the destination.
“We have had a huge increase in business enquiries in recent times. The common thread with buyers is that they are all looking for something new, and they certainly find that with Broome.”
Business tourism officer of Australia’s South West, Bonnie Allen, said she also believed it was quieter than previous years.
“We generally get visited [at AIME] by people who have definite plans to come into the region,” Ms Allen said.
“It is value-for-money to be here. If you are not here you are out of sight, out of mind. We have received definite business leads by attending.”
Festivals co-ordinator for the City of Whitehorse, Sue Fallon, said as an events person in suburban Melbourne she found AIME to be extremely worthwhile.
“I love going as a visitor to AIME and looking at all the great displays, collecting info on new corporate giveaways and event things such as the snow machine, which would look good with Santa,” she said.
“The travel destination displays were amazing and I agree with the award going to the Indian exhibition - it was fantastic.
“My two colleagues and I were very appreciative of the coffee, sandwiches and mango ice cream that kept us walking about for four hours.
“Although we aren’t in positions where we can choose destinations, we have lots of ideas for our own events, speakers and corporate giveaways. The travel brochures we collected are doing the rounds with lots of interest before settling on the travel shelf of our bookcase for easy later reference.”
She said one thing she was disappointed about was the large banner advertising the Czech Republic and Hungry (mis-spelt).
“I guess it could have been passed off as an advertisement for cafes in Prague, but I think visiting Hungarians could have felt a little miffed,” she said.
“[AIME] seems to get better and better each year.”
Thumbs up
Chairman of Meetings Australia, Tony McNamara, said the wide range of exhibitors, knowledgeable about their products, ensured buyers gathered a raft of good information.
“The Tuesday reception particularly provided an excellent networking opportunity for both buyers and sellers,” he said.
“Improvements? Start an hour earlier and run the seminars during a defined lunch break.”
General manager of Leading Edge Conferences, Jo Mahoney, said she thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition, meeting up with some great companies and individuals.
A hosted buyer who did not want to be named said their biggest gripe with the event was that attendance to everything was compulsory for the hosted buyer but they were never scanned through.
“[This included the] hosted buyer briefing, buyer meets seller, the welcome cocktails, Tuesday night’s poor attempt at a gala dinner,” the hosted buyer said.
“[It was] just annoying when those who know the system and wish to buck it have no problems doing so.”
Director of sales and marketing of Rendezvous Hotel Auckland, Jana Kingston, said AIME is what you make of it.
“It’s the preparation you carry out beforehand and how you work during the event. And what you do with it afterwards in terms of follow ups,” she said.
“It’s a great opportunity for branding, to market your property/properties. In terms of this year, probably a little bit slower in terms of day visitors due to the fact we have only really been six months from the last AIME and I think that’s had a reasonable impact. Some of the faces that would normally be quite prominent we have not seen.
“Business leads have been good. I would say that from my perspective they’ve been reasonable quality but again, it’s how you work it. Sometimes your appointment schedules are not what you’d ideally like to end up with, or it’s not the market that you necessarily want to target. I was a little bit disappointed because knowing the industry and having already qualified some of the buyers I know they don’t do too much into New Zealand, or put a lot of business through. So there are times where you could waste a lot of time on qualifying the information.”
 Dine around a winner
Another New Zealand exhibitor, Wayne Lee, business development – international for The Edge Auckland Convention Centre said AIME had been very good.
“There’s been some good leads and there’ll be a lot of things to follow up on, so that’s good,” he said.
“I thought the dine-around function was a good idea actually. Normally we don’t go to the gala dinner because for us it’s not the best networking opportunity because you get put on one table and don’t get to choose who you’re sitting with; you end up being with the same people all night and they may be other suppliers. The dine-around format they had this time seemed a lot better.
“The welcome function was great. I actually grew up in Melbourne, and to be able to walk on the hallowed turf of the MCG was fantastic. It was a good example to anyone in the events industry that if you’re going to do a function on the first night you’ve got to give your delegates a good show, you’ve got to wow them, showcase something which is unique to the destination. Particularly people who are from overseas and possibly haven’t been to Melbourne before.”
Mr Lee said he believed the quality of buyers to be good, although there weren’t as many in the appointment streams as previously.
“We had to push hard to fill them up. But there seems to be better quality buyers. The follow up will really tell us whether the leads prove to be genuine pieces of business.”
In terms of the New Zealand stand position Mr Lee believes branding of New Zealand should be done as a whole.
“My feeling is that New Zealand should be its own brand, under the Pure New Zealand brand. I think Christchurch, Wellington, everybody should be under the same brand and umbrella, and there’s talk of that for next year. I think that would be a lot better for us. It will give us continuity and make us look a lot better at the show.
“Victoria looks fantastic as a region, and other regions have a great profile. I think our profile is just sinking a little bit.”
Australian marketing representative of the Queenstown Convention Bureau, Jana Kingston, said 2007 was the first year the bureau has run without a pre-scheduled appointment stream.
“We have found it very beneficial just to deal with the walk-ups who have come along – we came away from the show with 10 very hot leads,” she said.
“As a destination it makes sense to go in this direction rather than having a pre-scheduled appointment stream. The walk-ups that have come to see us are people who are seriously looking at Queenstown. It also means we are available to see all those buyers that would like advice or information. In the past we have been so busy with appointments that a number of buyers have missed out.
“Overall, we felt the show was excellent. Reed has done a fantastic job of organising AIME 2007, especially with a much shorter lead time than usual. Our thanks go to Melanie Sara for all her help!”
For all the talk of globalisation - which quite simply means, to make worldwide - the AIME 2007 trendspotting forum revealed that trends in the business events industry are very different depending on what market you are working in.
Speakers from the UK (Paul Kennedy), the United States (Patricia Durocher), Europe (Martin Sirk), Asia (Anthony Wong), and Melbourne (Sandra Chipchase), revealed a slate of so-called trends, few of which were really being experienced in other markets.
Patricia Durocher of HelmsBriscoe International described the current market in the United States as very much a “seller’s market”, primarily because of a lack of venues and facilities. This certainly isn’t the case in Australia at the present time.
Paul Kennedy of Reed Travel Exhibitions said the spectacular developments of venues in China will result in a lag in quality service and services (ie – a lack of trained personnel working in these venues). This is not the case in the US, Europe or Australia where service levels are generally high, and it hardly appears as if it will be a problem any time soon.
Ms Durocher also said that environmental issues relating to meetings were not on the agenda in the United States. Meanwhile in Melbourne, the new Melbourne Convention Centre presently under construction is promoting itself as a “six-star green rated centre” which clearly illustrates that Australians are aware and interested in environmental matters.
Managing director of Asian Overland Services in Kuala Lumpur, Anthony Wong, said that environmental issues relating to business events was a major factor in Asia, but did not expand any further.
Talk about corporate social responsibility was touched on, and while there was some discussion on how some companies are interested in this aspect of business life there was little recognition that this was a global phenomenon.
Some observations made by panellists included:
• the freedom to travel from developing countries is boosting business travel, meetings and events
• the Middle East (Dubai and Abu Dhabi) are growing quickly, with Dubai constructing a Las Vegas-style gambling strip, and Abu Dhabi building a state-of-the-art convention centre (2006) surrounded by nine hotels.
• one of the biggest issues (according to the panellists) relating to business events is return on investment (ROI)
THE BRIEF:
I told the show organisers and those exhibitors I visited that I worked for a training organisation that was in the process of scouting around for venues and facilities appropriate to accommodate anywhere between 50 and 100 pax. Our intentions were to hold training sessions as a large group and utilise break-out rooms. We were also looking for team building activities either on-site or within a reasonable distance, accommodation, final night dinners and any other catering required.
FINDINGS:
• The welcome emails from the AIME organisers and reminders (to attend) were appropriate and timely.
• On arrival I found the signage and access to the exhibition were well laid out.
• The floor map of exhibitors was easy to read and follow.
• The majority of exhibitors were friendly and approachable.
• Many of the giveaways at the stands were not offered to me by exhibitors. I’m not sure if these were meant for high spenders, or whether you had to ask for these giveaways, which I felt awkward about. I did get a massage and a glass of champagne!
• The AIME information desks were well manned. Those working the stand inside the entrance were extremely helpful as were the roving helpers in their easy to recognise red tops. One stand I approached (inside the hall) was not very helpful. I asked whether there were any toilets within the exhibition hall to which the two people manning the stall replied that there wasn’t and I would have to go outside. I discovered that this wasn’t the case.
• As far as post-event follow-up, only one exhibitor has contacted me via email to thank me for visiting them at AIME (as at March 1, 2007).
EXHIBITOR BOOTHS:
A Queensland resort: Three lovely ladies greeted me on arrival. They were helpful and friendly. They took my email address. They had a lovely stand which was quite large and well lit.
Regional NSW resort: I was received with a smile by a friendly and happy lady who explained her accommodation and function space. She scanned me (with the scanner). I walked past this stand many times throughout the day and the woman always gave me a smile.
Regional NSW property: I was greeted by the host with a warm and friendly welcome. She sat me down and went through the presentation of their retreat, which took quite a while. I thought the slide-show was perhaps too long. They themed their stand appropriately to suit the venue, dressed in their outback style, with a whip!
Convention bureau: A big stand with lots to look at. I was given an information pack by a friendly person at the stand who was happy to talk to me.
Five-star Australian resort and spa: I received a lovely greeting. I was also given an invitation to sample a massage and enjoy a glass of champagne.
International venue and hotel: I was welcomed by three women representing each of the businesses who were all very friendly and inquisitive. They sat me down to view a slide show – here we go again – which again had too much information (for my liking). They took my details and gave me a goodie bag and information pack.
Regional venue: The woman was too busy to talk to me because she was waiting for an appointment. She took my name and said she would send me something.
Large-scale events centre: I walked up to three girls all holding their coffees and chatting with each other. One approached me (the business development executive) with coffee in hand, and asked what I “needed”. She told me their spaces were too big and wouldn’t suit. She handed me an information pack and flicked through some pages of catering. I felt she just wanted to get rid of me so they could continue chatting.
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