GIBTM 2013 will close today on a high note having attracted a record choice of buyers from the company meetings sector because the booming Gulf economies attract corporate travellers, trade delegations and other business groups.
The seventh edition of the show saw triple the selection of corporate meetings buyers in attendance, this year accounting for 35 per cent of all hosted buyers attending the show, in comparison to 11 per cent from the company sector in 2012.
The total number hosted buyers was evenly split between the center East, Europe and Asia Pacific, with first-timers attending from key growth markets for the center East including Australia, South Africa and Azerbaijan.
“According to plain & Poor’s latest forecast, GDP growth in the Gulf economies will reach 4.6 per cent in 2013, valuing the GCC economy at $1.5 trillion, which compares very favourably with many flatling western economies, facing prolonged austerity and sluggish growth,” said GIBTM exhibition manager Lois Hall.
“As a consequence the region is obviously attracting progressively more meetings, incentives and business travellers, especially from key regional and international trading partners.
“We have also witnessed a pointy increase inside the variety of overseas destinations, seeking to attract meetings and incentive groups from the center East,” added Hall.
In addition to the hike in corporate meetings buyers on the show, the variety of decision-makers from the possibly-lucrative international associations sector attending GIBTM greater than trebled in size.
With all eyes on China as a gigantic growth marketplace for meetings business for the center East, GIBTM brought in a delegation of ten influential buyers to the show including first-time visitor to the UAE, Jeffery Huang, vice secretary-general and associate researcher on the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Services.
“This is an excellent platform for us to discover partners in potential conference destinations,” he said.
“I will now consider the center East for our world congress in 2017. This typically involves a two-day conference and 3 to 5 days of leisure for our delegates so i’m gazing combining a couple of destinations, including the UAE, Oman and Qatar.”
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