From October 10 to 13, the international trade show IMEX America was held in the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas. The edition held in 2021, after a two-year break due to the global pandemic, announced the return of the meetings & incentive industry to life, and this year's edition is proof that confidence in the industry has fully returned. Namely, this year's IMEX America, since the launch of this show in 2011, is by all indicators the largest so far.
The 11th edition of IMEX America provided numerous business meetings and networking for the world's stakeholders of the meetings and incentive industry over four days and announced the full recovery of this extremely durable and resilient industry at the world level. The Trade Show gathered a total of 12,000 participants, including more than 4,000 buyers, of which 3,300 participated in the program as hosted buyers. Addressing all present at the closing press conference at Mandalay Bay, IMEX President Ray Bloom explained that the 2022 edition was 45% larger than last year, partly due to the easing of travel restrictions, but also due to 40% of repeated exhibitors who leased more exhibition space. Exhibitor companies from more than 180 countries presented their services at almost 400 stands, and almost a third of the exhibitors were new to the trade show.
Dubrovnik extremely successfully presented its meetings and incentive offer
Dubrovnik Convention Bureau of Dubrovnik Tourist Board presented its offer in partnership with the Zagreb Tourist Board and co-exhibitors - DMC agencies Intours DMC, Ban Tours and Katarina Line.
As the entire trade show was held with great success, Dubrovnik also attracted the greatest interest of international buyers so far. The schedule of meetings was completely filled in advance, and almost 40 of them were held. Customers, mostly representatives of PCO agencies, corporations or associations, expressed significant interest in organising incentive trips to Dubrovnik, as well as organising corporate events and conferences, mostly for 2024 and 2025. After a basic introduction to the charms of Dubrovnik and its high-quality MICE offer, many requested a more detailed introduction to the destination and specific local partners with whom they could collaborate on planning the events.
In addition to business meetings, the trade show IMEX America 2022 also provided a handful of opportunities for networking and socialising, as well as acquiring new knowledge, getting to know the latest industry trends and examples of best practices. More than 200 educational sessions and panels held under the theme Pathways to Clarity, combined with activities on the exhibition floor and the new AVoice4All program as part of Smart Monday, once again delighted, united and inspired the world meetings and incentive industry as a whole.