A delegation of Macau participated in the 8th worldwide exhibition for incentive travel, meetings & events (IMEX 2010) at Messe Frankfurt in Germany from 25th – 27th May this year. With the aim to further explore business opportunities and elevate Macau’s presence in the European market, the Macau Business Tourism Department (MBTC) of the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) exhibited together with 6 industry partners in the IMEX 2010, which include representatives of resort hotels, DMCs (destination management companies) and industry associations from Macau. MGTO received a total of 9 group appointments and 13 individual pre-scheduled appointments during the trade show. In addition, there was a fairly number of hosted buyers approached the Macau promotional booth for product updates and inquiry about the latest version of the “Strategic MICE Market Stimulation Program’. On the occasion, a cocktail reception was organized on 26th May at the Macau promotional booth which had successfully attracted more than 50 hosted buyers to attend, to network and to establish business contacts with our industry partners. To assist international meetings and event planners to understand what Macau can offer, the newly debut MICE promotional video was played and the new 2010 version of the Macau Meeting Planner’s Guide was also disseminated at the show. The guide provides handy information such as MBTC introduction and services, general information of Macau, convention and accommodation facilities, as well as contact details of local service providers such as DMCs, conference and event management companies. IMEX is one of Europe’s most important congress and conference trade shows. According to the organizer, 3,500 exhibitors from more than 150 countries are represented at the IMEX 2010, and it is anticipated that the fair will attract more than 3,800 hosted buyers this year. AACVB – Greater efforts for Asia Taking the opportunity of IMEX 2010, the Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus (AACVB) held a meeting in Frankfurt of Germany on 24th May. After the re-launch in May last year, AACVB has been accelerating its promotional efforts to drive more MICE traffic to the Asian region. Representatives from Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Thailand attended the meeting. Apart from project updates by each member, exploration of future cooperation and marketing programs were also discussed during the meeting.
