Incentive - November 2009 - (Page 29)

TRAVEL PAGE 31 Sweet Switzerland Stunning Alpine settings, first-class hotels and dining, and efficient transportation mean the nation is anything but neutral for incentives U.S. Incentive Trade Show Battle Heats Up Furiously By Andrea Doyle O ct. 28’s announcement of IMEX America, dubbed “America’s Worldwide Exhibition for Incentive Travel, Meetings & Events,” capped a stunning transformation of the U.S. incentive trade show landscape, now suddenly filled with three major annual exhibitions. In 2011, the first IMEX America will compete with the inaugural AIBTM (Americas Incentive, Business Travel & Meetings Exhibition), which will be held June 21-23 at the Baltimore Convention Center by Reed Travel Exhibitions. These two shows mean real competition for the Motivation Show in Chicago, especially IMEX America, whose dates are also in the fall. Las Vegas is the long-term host city for IMEX America, which will begin Oct. 11-13 at the Sands Expo and Convention Center at the Venetian and Palazzo resorts. The show will be part of the IMEX Group of exhibitions. “I have long felt there was a need for a dedicated and business-focused show in the U.S. for corporate and association planners,” explains Ray Bloom, chairman of the IMEX Group. He says IMEX America will have the largest-scale hostedbuyer program in North America, in which “top meetings and incentives buyers from across the U.S. and the world travel and stay free as our guests.” The inaugural IMEX America show will be held roughly at the same time as the Motivation Show, which takes place yearly in October. IMEX America will host 1,500 buyers, 80 percent of which will originate from within North America. Travel and accommodation packages will be created to attract several thousand more key decisionmakers from across the country. Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE) is planning to host about 600 buyers at AIBTM, 500 from North America, according to Vanessa Cotton, its chair. IMEX Group Chairman Ray Bloom announces a new U.S. hosted-buyer show She says RTE is expecting about 2,000 trade visitors at AIBTM. Industry organizations supporting Bloom’s new trade fair include Meeting Professionals International, which will be the “Strategic Partner” of IMEX America and will assist with the show’s educational program as well as IMEX’s successful Future Leaders Forum. incentivemag.com Incentive travel industry group Site will hold its 2011 Annual Conference Oct. 13-15, immediately following IMEX America, while the American Society of Association Executives will hold an educational event on the preceding day of IMEX America. In Las Vegas, officials who were on hand for the show’s announcement were thrilled. “IMEX America will help our efforts on the meetings side,” says Rossi Ralenkotter, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA). “It once again stresses that Las Vegas is the place to do business. It will help us grow our international market, [which] we would like to see grow by 20 percent.” “We are confident that Las Vegas will provide IMEX America with a truly outstanding, long-term home,” adds Chris Meyer, vice president of sales for the LVCVA. To support the new show, an IMEX office is opening in Chicago, managed by IMEX America’s U.S.-based president, Kimberly Meyer. The competition between IMEX Group and RTE is nothing new, as their European shows, IMEX and EIBTM, have dueled for years. | November 2009 | Incentive | http://www.incentivemag.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Incentive - November 2009

Incentive - November 2009
Contents
Editor’s Note: Incentive Excellence Exchange
Headlines
Amway’s Over-the-Top 50th Anniversary Incentive Trip
Cover Story: Growing Globally, Software Developer Symantec Seeks Centralized Recognition
Strategies: Motivating the Six Workplace Personality Types
Primer: Five Tools CEOs Can Use To Improve Engagement
Travel News: Where to Go and How to Get There
Switzerland’s Incentive Offerings Are Legendary
Potentials: Here and Now
Digital Cameras for the Social Networking Era
Incentive Gift Card Directory

Incentive - November 2009