Over the three days of the show, more than 6,500 pre-scheduled appointments are conducted, with many more drop-in meetings taking place between Hosted Buyers, exhibitors and visitors.
Hosted Buyers and exhibitors attending The Meetings Show UK, which is taking place at Olympia, London until today, have overwhelmingly welcomed the show as a place to make connections and conduct business.
Over the three days of the show, more than 6,500 pre-scheduled appointments will be conducted, with many more drop-in meetings taking place between Hosted Buyers, exhibitors and visitors.
Steve Millar, Membership Director of the PRCA: “I’ve had back to back meetings. It’s been great. I’ve met lots of really good exhibitors, lots of ideas and venues which I would never usually think of for our international side of business. This format has been brilliant. Sometimes the most interesting people are those you don’t intend to meet so I put a few wild cards in there as well just to mix it up a bit, and that’s been really good.“
Catarina Orim, Portuguese Speech and Language Therapist Association: “I think [an event like this] is the best way to travel around Europe – I’ve seen a lot of countries here, I’ve seen what they have to offer and I can manage my time at an event like this. Its very well organised – the stands, the space – we’re very well looked after!”
Heledd Williams, Head of Cardiff Convention Bureau: “We’re very excited to be part of the show. It’s new and it’s different. We’ve been very busy and the quality of buyer is very good and we’ve had a good amount of enquiries. There’s been a great buzz around the show. You can hear business being conducted. The venue is great – it’s all really positive. We have five partners with us and they’re all really happy.“
Adam Faries, Conference and Events Sales Manager, Royal Garden Hotel: “We had a great first day. The show is giving us access to new buyers – 90% of our appointments are new buyers which is what we were looking for.”
Nikki Mitchell, Managing Partner, destinations UNLIMITED: “The show is going really well. There have been lots of people coming through and it’s great to meet new people, especially senior decision makers. We’ve been able to catch up with people, meet new people and build new relationships.”
Deborah Gensler, Managing Director, Compass Group: “My time is limited so I need to use every moment effectively. The Meetings Show UK’s Hosted Buyer programme is the best I have ever come across. It allows me to focus on what matters – networking and learning – rather than the hassles of travel and logistics. In particular the show’s balance of UK and International exhibitors allows me to meet key people from around the world in one place at one time. I have had some fantastic appointments, the exhibitors are extremely high quality and they are genuinely the most professional and friendly I have met at any show. They take the time to understand my needs and provide the right information. I will definitely be returning in 2014.”
Chad Shiver, Conventions Manager, Japan National Tourism Organisation,: “The quality of the buyers at The Meetings Show UK has been fantastic. We have had a range of both UK and International buyers on the stand, many with little prior experience of Japan but a genuine interest to place business in the near future. One in particular was a substantial Association looking to place a large event in the Far East in 2021 – our presence here cemented the relationship and believe we will be their preferred choice. We also had a large number of drop-in appointments, again with genuine business to place, which confirms the organiser’s statement that the buyer are here in numbers, even if they are not all taking advantage of the hosted buyer programme.”
Jennifer Connery, Head of Corporate Events, Thorpe Park (Merlin Entertainments Group): “Merlin Entertainments Group offers a range of unique and magical event spaces amongst world class theme parks across the UK. We have a genuinely different offering and wanted to present it to the wider meeting industry and believed The Meetings Show UK to be the perfect platform. We were not disappointed… So far it has all been about quality, there is an air of professionalism about the show, we have had strong leads, taken bookings on the stand for a range of events across all the properties and we will definitely be back in 2014 – hopefully with more partners.”
Nicola Chapman, Director of Sales, Hotel Bookings and Business Travel Agents, Hilton Worldwide: “The Show is small and intimate but really good quality. Our stand is in a great location. We wanted to meet new contacts, and have done so from Spain, Italy, Portugal as well as good old blighty.”
The Meetings Show UK has also featured more than 190 separate education sessions, an Association Conference at The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, bespoke corporate, agency, pharmaceutical, healthcare and technology mini conferences, industry focused keynotes, the launch of the full UK Economic Impact Study and a host of networking opportunities.
Tatiana is the news coordinator for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). Her role includes monitoring the hundreds of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skimming the most important according to our strategy.
She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication & Mass Media from Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens and she has been editor and editor-in-chief in various economic magazines and newspapers.
