IMEX America, the newest trade show for the meetings, incentive travel and events industry, lived up to its promise of delivering high-quality business, networking and professional education over the past four days at the Venetian®, The Palazzo® and Sands Expo in Las Vegas. 

Thursday afternoon, the show's innovator and IMEX Group chairman, Ray Bloom expressed his delight that the first show had gone so well and a received such worldwide positive reaction from the industry.

Reiterating a comment made earlier in the week by MPI's president and CEO Bruce MacMillan, Bloom said, "We have successfully delivered a new, collaborative business model, which is not a US trade show in Las Vegas but a truly global marketplace in America plus a tremendous education program. That was always our vision but, of course, over the past four days thousands of industry professionals have been able to see and experience it for themselves. They now completely understand what we set out to do and have appreciated the fresh dimension it has brought to the industry here in the U.S."

One aspect of IMEX America that sets it apart is the educational content provided to delegates. The education was provided by MPI—the strategic partner of IMEX America.

As Bruce MacMillan had expressed before Wednesday morning's keynote session, "Having packed-out sessions at our own education conference is one thing. Having packed-out sessions at a trade show is unheard of. That's the big difference. MPI and IMEX America have changed the value proposition here in Vegas this week."

And in tandem with the high-quality education was the value of new business relationships forged on the IMEX America trade show floor.

Bloom gave the example of the SECC (Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre) who received a booking for a 12,000-delegate event from a buyer who simply arrived on the day without an appointment looking to place the event outside the U.S. for the first time.

Another exhibitor, Michelle Saran, executive director of the Canadian Tourism Commission commented, "We've had many one-on-one appointments and I haven't seen a booth this busy in North America for years and years. Our team pre-planned appointments, but we've also had a lot of people walking on to the stand for ad-hoc meetings."

By the numbers:

• There were 2,000 hosted buyers, 1,700 attendees and nearly 2,000 exhibitors.

• There were more than 800 U.S. companies represented

• 53% of hosted buyers attending had budgets in excess of US$1 million.

• More than 30,000 total appointments were made before and during the show including 23,930 individual appointments.

• Downloads of the IMEX mobile app (which was developed by IMEX, MPI and QuickMobile and sponsored by Freeman) also reached impressive user levels with 2,050 people using the app to enhance their show experience.

The International Council of Tourism Partners (ICTP) recently announced that Ray Bloom, IMEX Group Chairman, is the first person to be named to ICTP’s “Industry Visionaries” roll. ICTP has long been a supporter of IMEX America, and, equally important, has been a friend and admirer of Ray Bloom and what he has done for the meeting industry.

When Bloom was about to launch EIBTM more than 20 years ago, he visited with ICTP President Geoffrey Lipman in Geneva and laid out his plans to create the biggest MICE event ever. He had no backers—just an embryonic plan and a vision. Lipman remembers listening to Ray, smiling and thinking, “He’s charming, but he’s crazy!”

Over the years, Bloom proved Lipman wrong on the second point, and he even asked Lipman to keynote his first exhibition. Over the years, Lipman has had that honor several times—each to a bigger, more committed audience.

Today, Bloom is on the verge of fulfilling his great vision for the third time and in the process is playing an important role in advancing the travel industry on the world stage. He still remains the warm, personal, family-oriented man who has time for every exhibitor no matter whether they are big, small or simply a start-up.

Bloom's exhibitions are very important to ICPT, because they embody ICTP’s driving principles—the search for quality and recognition of the importance of the green agenda. The IMEX exhibitions also demonstrate the key contribution of the business travel sector to the broader visitor economy—a fact that is often lost in the word “tourism” and is frequently unrecognized by the policymakers who so strongly influence the collective destinies related to tourism.

“We are proud to make Ray Bloom the first name on ICTP’s 'Industry Visionaries' roll," Lipman said. "We salute him as a visionary, a creator and, above all, as someone who has remained a fundamentally decent person despite his great success.”