2011 Edition Of GIBTM To Be Biggest Show Ever

The growing importance of the Middle East within the global economy has been a major driver for the success of GIBTM

This year’s Gulf Incentive, Business Travel and Meetings Exhibition (GIBTM), scheduled to be held in Abu Dhabi at the National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) from the 28th to 30th March, will be the biggest ever in the show’s five year history, with higher numbers of visitors and exhibitors expected.

GIBTM brings together a combination of regional and international industry buyers and suppliers, for three days of business opportunities, networking and professional education and has fast become the leading event for the rapidly developing Middle Eastern ‘MICE’ (Meetings, Incentive, Conference and Exhibitions) market. It is now a major player in the global portfolio of meetings events organised by Reed Travel Exhibitions.

GIBTM 2011 is aiming to attract over 2,000 industry professionals from all the many sectors who stage conferences, exhibitions and incentive meetings including 300 Hosted Buyers and more than 250 exhibiting companies. Around 40% of attendees come from across the Middle East while three in every five reflect the International mix of the event.

Lloyd Kenyon, Exhibition Manager of GIBTM, explained that the growing importance of the Middle East within the global economy has been a major driver for the success of GIBTM. “This is the only international exhibition in the Middle East region dedicated entirely to the business of meetings and events; and it provides the perfect business platform for both international and regional venues, hotels, destinations and suppliers to meet with local, regional and international meeting planners, incentive travel buyers and those involved in the global meetings and events industry,” he said.

“We are already receiving strong interest from companies across a wide range of sectors, including PR and event agencies, HR and marketing professionals who organise internal events, secretaries and travel agents who book flights and hotels for the business travel of employees. The show is growing in size year on year as more and more people understand the relevance of what is on offer and how they can utilise this information within their own sectors.

“In fact, there has never been a more important time to invest in face-to-face meetings between the suppliers of the services and those wishing to take advantage of them. Hosted Buyers in particular can benefit from our Pre-Scheduled Appointment System, which provides buyers with a schedule of up to 10 one-on-one meetings with suppliers each day. This is particularly useful to buyers who have very short lead times and who are therefore more likely to go to suppliers with whom they have already developed a good relationship. So suppliers who want to win business should be investing in face-to-face meetings and focusing on creating good working relationships with buyers,” Kenyon added.

This view is echoed by Thorsten Kolbinger, Managing Director of Ungerboeck Software EMEA, who says: “GIBTM is an important industry event for us because we see the Middle East market offering high potentials due to its growing meeting community. GIBTM is the ideal place to meet all the relevant people in one place. We have already exhibited there very successfully for the last four years and do not want to miss the opportunity to exhibit again in 2011.”

And Elif Balci Fisunoglu, General Manager of the Istanbul Convention & Visitors Bureau adds that more and more incentive groups and corporate events are looking for new destinations for their next events. “At ICVB, we play a very important role in promoting our destination at the meeting industry trade shows and events. We are happy that we will promote Turkey and Istanbul again at GIBTM with the great support of the Turkish Ministry of Tourism & Culture and the Turkish Tourism Office in Dubai. We plan to increase our marketing activities within the region in the near future and host familiarization trip groups from the region in Istanbul in 2011. We also encourage our members and industry partners to actively take part at GIBTM and other related activities within the region.”

Khalid Al Zadjali, Head of Overseas Promotion at the Oman Ministry of Tourism adds that Oman expects a 10-15% increase in tourism in 2011. “We are therefore attending business travel shows such as GIBTM so that we can recognise new trends, best practices and network well to promote Oman as a business travel destination,” he says.

Fuelled by the growth of the meetings and events sector in the region, GIBTM will present a diverse range of subjects in their seminar programme that underline the event’s commitment to raising industry standards and encourage learning and development. This year there will again be a number of seminars that are taking place on the exhibition floor itself in order to make it easier for everyone to attend them. “Of particular importance this year is our targeting of the private sector since there are still many who are not aware of the excellent deals and opportunities there are out there,” Lloyd Kenyon continued.

It is also highly appropriate that Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority is once again hosting this show since the emirate’s business tourism, meetings and incentive infrastructure has expanded significantly over the past year with a number of new hotels and vastly better transport. Business tourism currently accounts for around 70% of Abu Dhabi’s hotel guest profile with 10% of this emanating from the Meetings, Incentive, Conference and Exhibitions segment. This number is expected to rise sharply over the coming months.

“Excellent flight connections, too, make the Middle East an ideal location for global corporate gatherings; and it is estimated that two billion people are within a four-hour flight radius of the Gulf. Shorter lead times are becoming much more the norm now, with many companies often booking only a few months before an event is to take place, since many are wary of hefty cancellation fees whilst some are simply taking advantage of favourable last minute rates and packages,” Kenyon concluded.

More information on the exhibitors, networking opportunities and the seminars being given can be found on the GIBTM website at www.gibtm.com

GIBTM is being held under the patronage of its Chairman, HH Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, and Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, ADNEC, Etihad and The Vision are all exclusive partners for GIBTM 2011. Meetme, published by NPI, is a global media partner and publisher of the Official Show Daily publication.

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