The second IBTM Americas show took on a new meaning this year for Mexico’s meeting and hospitality industry.
Earlier this year, Mexico’s new president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, shut down the country’s Tourism Promotion Council of Mexico (CPTM), the entity that funded the Visit Mexico tourism board, closing the doors to more than 20 offices in major cities around the world and ending matching funds to individual destination marketing organizations (DMOs) to promote their cities and regions.
The impact was of immediate concern to planners and suppliers in Mexico, the sixth-most-visited country in the world and major players in the meeting, incentive, conference and exhibition (MICE) industry.
Enter IBTM Americas, which this week concluded its two-day show at Centro Citibanamex in Mexico City. The Reed Exhibitions’ major trade show for the Americas came at just the right time for Mexico’s meeting industry.
“This was an important event for us,” said Virginia Arana Pérez, director of promotions and public relations for FIDETURE, which promotes meetings in Yucatan. “I’ve always been a big believer of IBTM here. Our market needed this type of a trade show at this time for our suppliers to be able to show all the good things that we have to offer in Mexico. This was a great opportunity especially now with the administration’s decision. This was our chance to tell our story to an important audience.”
Arana speaks from experience. As a meetings director for the Mexico Tourism Board, most recently based in Washington, D.C., until the Mexican government closed her office, she lobbied for the meeting and hospitality industry in Mexico, which in recent years has been one of the most prolific and stable.
According to data from the MICE Travel Report, prepared by IBTM Americas, between 2016 and 2017, 6.1 million trips were made to Latin America within the MICE category. The United States tops the list of visitors, followed by Argentina and Brazil.
The International Association of Congresses and Conventions (ICCA) ranks Mexico 24th worldwide in the organization of conventions, with 172 annual events.
The industry in Mexico does not want to lose that momentum, which is why IBTM Americas—formed by combining the former IBTM North America and IBTM Latin America shows into one—was important this year.
"We at IBTM see this situation as a great opportunity to join efforts and raise the game to the private initiative,” said David Hidalgo, show director for IBTM Americas. “It may be a good time to reinvent the industry and make Mexico visible all over the world. The current challenge for the meeting industry is to achieve a change in the promotion of Mexico in the eyes of the world, as well as to position domestic and foreign products related to this niche.
“We have to communicate in a more effective way the advantages, the impact and the value of holding events or acquiring services here. Another very important point to highlight is that it should be made known that the tourism of meetings is not only beneficial for those who are directly involved in the activity, but also for businesses such as the restaurant, handicrafts, leisure and directly for the economy of the destinations.”
Mexico is highly competitive when it comes to hosting all types of meetings and events due to a strong hotel infrastructure and facilities. The trade show provided a format for those destinations and marketing organizations to showcase themselves.
“One of the priorities of IBTM Americas is precisely to offer a space to open new business opportunities and provide training to our visitors,” Hidalgo said. “We have good air and land connectivity, hotel infrastructure, restaurants, high-capacity venues and, of course, attractive tourism that complements all this. Mexico remains a benchmark for the meeting industry.”
Hidalgo was elated at the show’s success. Early returns show about 4,000 trade show visitors, an increase of about 600 from last year. Hidalgo said there were 800 hosted buyers, including 200 from the U.S., and about 13,000 appointments. There were 250 stands and about 500 companies.
“The show exceeded our expectations,” he said. “I feel like it matured from last year. The networking was much better and the education was stronger. The initial feedback has been very positive.”
The highlights of the education program—six specialized forums with about 50 speakers throughout—included a session with Felipe Calderón, former president of Mexico, who spoke on “Mexico Today: Economic and Political Perspectives,” and a rousing closing session with Rich Redmond, a Nashville-based, award-winning recording and touring drummer who has performed with major stars such as Kelly Clarkson and Bryan Adams. His topic was “Crash Course for Success,” encouraging attendees to focus on commitment, relationships, attitude, skill and hunger.
But the main focus of the show was on the trade floor, and buyers and suppliers networked to build relationships and business.
Tracy Judge (MPI San Diego Chapter), founder and chief connector at Soundings Connect in San Diego, attended the show for the first time as a hosted buyer. Gaining an understanding of the Mexican market was an important factor in her decision to attend, particularly as an independent planner.
“Being culturally immersed in our business, understanding the diversity of our business has never been more important,” she said. “Mexico is such an important destination, and for me to be able to serve my clients, I need to understand this market. We need partnerships and it only makes sense to be here.”
One new destination to have a stand at the show was the Japan National Tourism Organization. Kay Allen, deputy manager for JNTO based in Los Angeles, said the Mexico market is growing when it comes to travel to Japan.
“We want to be in the conversation,” she said. “We need to be in the conversation. The Mexico market is a good opportunity and there was a good presence of U.S. planners here, too. Japan is strong right now and we need to continue to grow.”
Meeting Professionals International (MPI) had a presence at IBTM Americas with member engagement and its signature Foundation event, Rendezvous, which supported industry scholarships, professional development and research.
The MPI Mexico Chapter also conducted a one-day Basics Bootcamp: Meeting Fundamentals class for nearly 50 meeting professionals just ahead of IBTM Americas. The class was taught in Spanish by members of the chapter and other industry professionals—the first time the class was taught by a chapter, the result of an agreement with MPI Global. The class was also made possible with the support of sponsors Secretaría de Turismo del Gobierno del Estado de Guanajuato and Ocv León.
Ricardo Magaña, marketing director for the MPI Mexico Chapter, said members of the chapter took the certification class themselves, then sourced the content, program and speakers.
“This is an industry that is all about connections and shared experiences,” he said. “This was our opportunity to bring those elements together. We asked for MPI to support us doing it in Spanish and it was well received. It was an opportunity for us to share knowledge.”
Magaña, who is with integrated meeting planning and marketing communications company Actnow! said the chapter would like to repeat the training.
“This needed to be awesome and we got good feedback,” he said. “Everyone said the [training] needs to be over two days. We made a commitment to make this work. It’s an industry that is changing the experience and it was important for us to do this person to person.”
