AMERICAS – International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) has formally endorsed US meetings exhibition IMEX America following its second edition in Las Vegas.
The endorsement means IMEX America now joins the original IMEX in Frankfurt and Reed Travel Exhibitions’ European Incentives, Business Travel and Meetings exhibition (EIBTM) in Barcelona as association-approved meetings industry events.
In practice, ICCA only endorses trade shows that are of “genuinely global stature in terms of both exhibitors and buyers, and which actively involve a high proportion of members around the world”.
The IMEX Group claimed this year’s event was 28 per cent bigger than the inaugural event in 2011.
Speaking at the ICCA Congress in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where the decision was made, ICCA President Arnaldo Nardone said: “Ray Bloom and his team have created a successful global event in the space of only two years, and the messages coming to us from our members have been entirely positive about its impact.
“We’re delighted to deepen our relationship, to help IMEX create an even stronger association buyer programme, and to ensure that exhibiting ICCA members are able to extract even more value from attending.”
IMEX Chairman Ray Bloom said after 10 years of partnership with the association through its Frankfurt IMEX event, this opens a new chapter in the companies collaboration.
“We’re delighted that ICCA has endorsed our show, recognising our effort to create a genuinely global experience for meeting professionals from every region of the world,” said Bloom. “Next year’s show is already anticipated to show significant growth in both exhibitor and hosted buyer numbers, and we look forward to creating even more exciting business opportunities for ICCA’s members.”
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