AMERICAS - Business conducted at the second edition of US tradeshow IMEX America 2012 has been valued at US$3.3bn by organiser IMEX Group.
The figure represents a 17.5 per cent increase on the $2.8bn reported in the 2011 post-show survey, and includes business either placed or expected to be placed by buyers as a result of their attendance at the show.
The survey was produced from feedback from 1,000 hosted buyers and buyer attendees, a figure IMEX Group chairman Ray Bloom called an “exceptional” sample.
The survey asked buyers a series of questions about their aims, objectives and behavior at IMEX America, including the question that produced the $3.3bn value figure:‘What is the estimated value of orders you placed at the show and the estimated value of orders you expect to place as a result of the show?’
Commenting on the figures, Bloom said: “This is a firm endorsement of the high quality of buyers we attracted this year and proof, if any were needed, that the show delivers real business value and produces positive results for many months afterwards.”
Other statistics related to buyer behaviour include the 38,000 individual buyer appointments, 20 per cent of which were made as a result of the improved email inbox service. The practice of generating a single email each day to buyersalerting them to their new appointments will now be rolled out to all buyers attending IMEX Frankfurt in May.
Bloom concluded that the data, “provided added value at a time when buyers and suppliers want the process of qualifying each other and then doing business together to be as fast and seamless as possible”.
The International Congress and Convention Association formally endorsed IMEX America following its second edition in Las Vegas last year.
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