Twenty seven new exhibitors have signed up to The Meetings Show UK in the last week as destinations, venues and meetings industry suppliers recognise the value and importance of the new show, which takes place from 9-11 July, 2013 at Olympia, London.
Following the opening of visitor and hosted buyer registration, organizations such as Hilton Worldwide, IHG/InterContinental Hotels Group, Business Events Canada, Japan National Tourism Organization, and Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority have signed up to exhibit at The Meetings Show UK.
A number of exhibitors – such as Tourism Ireland, VisitScotland and Austrian National Tourist Office – have increased their original stand space to allow for additional destination partners. And London & Partners and Tourism Ireland have partnered with The Meetings Show UK to create further branded areas to accommodate additional partners who have not been able to secure space on their national pavilions.
In addition to the wide range of exhibitors previously announced, the following have signed up in recent weeks:
- Global destinations include Business Events Canada, Czech Tourist Authority, Hungarian National Tourist Office, Israel Government Tourist Office, Japan National Tourism Organisation and Korea Tourism Organisation.
- Major cities and regions now also taking part include Turisme de Barcelona, Bilbao Convention Bureau, Catalunya Tourism, Lanzarote Convention Bureau, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, Ljubljana Tourism, Madrid Visitors and Convention Bureau, Meet in Flanders, and Vilnius Convention Bureau.
- Many more destinations will be represented through DMCs and their UK/European representation companies – recent additions include World of DMCs, Global Marketing Connections, Spectra, and The Rep Company. Just a few of the DMCs signed up include Abenteuer Afrika Safari, Condor Verde, Cox & Kings Ltd., Dakkak Tours International DMC, DMC Arabia, Escape Travel, ESHET Incentives & Conferences, Green Route Africa, Mazurkas DMC Poland, MICE HOUSE, ONLY ONE Morocco, and Weichlein Tours + Incentives.
- Major UK destinations outside of London now include Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau, Bath Tourism Plus, Meet Bournemouth, Conference Torquay, Jersey Convention Bureau, Liverpool Convention Bureau, Experience Nottinghamshire, Visit Lincoln, VisitScotland, and Visit Essex.
- The London area now includes Arsenal Football Club – Emirates Stadium, Chelsea Football Club, Church House Conference Centre, One Wimpole Street, Pestana Hotels, Twickenham Experience, The Doyle Collection, The Mermaid Centre and The Royal Garden Hotel supported by London & Partners, and The London City Selection.
- The show is supported by other leading UK venues and venue groups such as Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre, Belfast Waterfront, Center Parcs, Conference Centres of Excellence, Edinburgh International Conference Centre, etc. venues, Jockey Club Venues, Millbrook Events, Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, Telford International Centre, and The NEC Group.
- Major international hotel chains present will include: Barcelo Hotels and Resorts International, Edition Hotels, Ellicis Hotels, Elite Hotels, Four Pillars Hotels, Hilton Worldwide, IHG / InterContinental Hotels Group, Louvre Hotels Group, Macdonald Hotels, NH Hoteles, Park Plaza Hotel and Resorts, Radisson Blu Edwardian, Star Hotels, and Steigenberger Hotels.
- Associations taking space or hosting partners include HBAA, MIA and MPI UK and Ireland Chapter, with others to be confirmed. Furthermore, the Institute of Hospitality and the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) have joined the growing list of supporting association partners.
- New exhibitors in the technology sector include Abbit Meeting Support, DoubleDutch, Eventbrite, Insight Presentation Systems, Magency Digital, Meeting Support Institute, and Saville Audio Visual.
- Specialist suppliers include Capita Travel and Events, Nexus Collections, Venue Directory and Worldspan Group.
The Meetings Show UK event director Steve Knight commented: "The response to our decision to launch The Meetings Show UK has been overwhelming. Exhibitors and visitors are telling us time and again that a hosted buyer led show of this quality is needed in the UK and we are delighted to be fulfilling that need. This ever expanding list of high quality exhibitors continues to provide motivation for buyers to attend the show in July – a fact that is reflected in the high number of registrations already completed."
"This list represents just a small number of the organisations signed up to exhibit at The Meetings Show UK, whilst interest has been strong across the whole of the last year, confirmations have skyrocketed in the last month with almost the whole of the UK and many destinations throughout Europe and further afield now represented. Main and stand sharing exhibitor numbers are increasing at a rapid rate and we expect to see even more confirmations over the next few weeks."
David Owen, head of marketing at etc.venues, said: "We like exhibitions – they give us the chance to get ’up close and personal’ with active event bookers. But there are loads of them we could exhibit at and they are a serious commitment in terms of time and money so making the right choice is key. We decided to do The Meetings Show UK due to the strength of the hosted buyer programme and because of the buzz they seem to have created in the market – in a year when some other shows may have lost their mojo a little. Event bookers always like new venues – I get the feeling the same applies for new exhibitions."
The Meetings Show UK is expected to attract 4,000 meeting professionals including 1,500 hosted buyers from across the UK and Europe. The high profile exhibitor list includes a wide range of leading UK and international destinations, venues and suppliers demonstrating the wide spread of support for the inaugural show. Visitor and Hosted Buyer applications are open at www.themeetingsshow.com.
