GMITE events connect fully vetted, high-volume meeting and incentive buyers with global suppliers during scheduled meetings, all while helping to foster lasting relationships with industry colleagues.
NEW YORK – Questex Travel Group’s Global Meeting & Incentive Travel Exchanges (GMITE) events are on track to break annual records for participation, reinforcing their position as the leading conferences catering to the meetings, incentives, conferences and events market.
GMITE events connect fully vetted, high-volume meeting and incentive buyers with global suppliers during scheduled meetings, all while helping to foster lasting relationships with industry colleagues. Buyers include representatives of key incentive houses and corporate incentive buyers.
John McMahon, Questex Travel Group executive vice president, credited GMITE’s success, in part, to “our collaborative relationships with our host venues and our partnerships with SITE and Hotel Sales & Marketing Association International,” which he said helped create “extraordinary, one-of-a-kind experiences” for attendees.
“My confidence in the present and future success of GMITE events is founded on the deep bench strength of our event leadership and extensive, close relationships within the MICE market,” he said. “Working together, our team has strengthened the credibility, relevance and value of GMITE events to our audience.
“Incentive Travel Exchange, our leading event in the incentive market, has such a unique format that it is growing stronger every year, with planners requesting participation year after year. Planners in the incentive market know this is the leading networking and destination education event in the industry, and they seek invitations.”
Marilyn McHugh, Questex Travel Group vice president of events, lauded the efforts of Greg Byrnes and Eric Edmunds, Questex business development directors, for their “tireless efforts to educate the marketplace, continually reassess industry needs and identify top suppliers across the globe.”
Building on the momentum of the sold-out, 10th anniversary Incentive Travel Exchange event at the Delano Las Vegas in March that achieved record participation and 98 percent attendee satisfaction, the series accelerates this summer with the Latin America Meeting & Incentive Travel Exchange (LAMITE) June 25-28 at the Real InterContinental in San Jose, Costa Rica.
“LAMITE already is sold out,” McHugh said. “This new event, which we are holding in partnership with InterContinental Hotels Group – our very supportive host – has far exceeded our expectations for its launch.”
The Asia Meeting & Incentive Travel Exchange (AMITE) follows July 1 in Singapore. AMITE is produced by Questex Travel Group in partnership with the Singapore Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers (SACEOS). This year’s event will be held in conjunction with the Fifth Annual Singapore MICE Forum (SMF), organized by SACEOS. AMITE buyers will be invited to attend the opening SMF keynote address as special guests of SACEOS.
Next in the series is the Caribbean Meeting & Incentive Travel Exchange (CMITE), to be held Aug. 10-13 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Punta Cana, the Dominican Republic. “CMITE has been embraced by the Hard Rock Hotel as well as the Dominican Republic Ministry of Tourism,” McHugh said. “With the additional support of the Aruba Convention Bureau, a returning strong partner, the event will continue to grow.”
Questex Travel Group’s inaugural ITE at Sea event, an invitation-only, one-to-one networking event, will be held Oct. 21-24 aboard Royal Caribbean International’s Oasis of the Seas cruise ship, departing from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, destined for Nassau, the Bahamas.
HSMAI’s MEET National will be held Sept. 9-10 at the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington. The event is expected to draw more than 900 attendees, bringing together meeting and event-planning professionals with 120 leading suppliers representing hotels, resorts, meeting venues and convention and visitors bureaus as well as events, promotions, technology and marketing products and services.
“Registration for this year’s MEET National event is strongly outpacing previous years,” McHugh said. HSMAI’s MEET (Meetings, Events, Education, & Technology) conferences are designed for hospitality sales and marketing professionals to present their properties, destinations and services to well-profiled meeting and association planners. For more information, go to GlobalTravelExchanges.com and MEETConference.com.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
