IMEX 2023
High expectations
The last Corona measures ended in Germany in April. In May the IMEX trade fair in Frankfurt hopes to reach its pre-Corona level. Photo: IMEX Group
The last Corona measures ended in Germany in April. The IMEX trade fair taking place in Frankfurt in May hopes to reach its pre-Corona level.
The economic climate is unsettled, but the demand for business events remains strong after the end of the pandemic. Expectations are correspondingly high for the IMEX trade fair from 23 to 25 May 2023 in Frankfurt, which sets the general theme of Human Nature.
The organizing IMEX Group stated that 3,000 buyers from over 60 countries had already registered for IMEX in Frankfurt by 13 April 2023. In terms of the number of buyers, the British had thus already reached the previous year's level five weeks before the start of their trade fair from 23 to 25 May 2023. IMEX 2022 attracted 9,000 participants to Halls 8 and 9 of Messe Frankfurt, half of them exhibitors, the other half visitors and among them 3,000 buyers.
After the cancellations of IMEX 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, it was nevertheless possible to stage the IMEX 2022, but with uncertainties caused by the virus. In April, the last Corona measures also expired in Germany and the IMEX Group hopes for a development similar to IMEX America. The sister show in Las Vegas was held for the first time in November 2021, and one year later in October 2022 almost reached its pre-Corona level with 12,000 participants in 2019.
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„We can see that the first edition of both shows, post pandemic were very similar in size and we expect both to enjoy similar growth curves as the industry recovers,“ explains Carina Bauer, CEO of IMEX Group. The expectations for IMEX 2023 in Frankfurt are correspondingly high. Even if in times of crisis voices are raised that it's not about quantity but quality, at the end of the third day of the trade fair everyone will be looking at the numbers – and IMEX Group first and foremost.
Parallel to the registrations, the list of exhibitors is filling up with suppliers from six of seven continents. Representatives from Europe include Germany with the largest joint stand, France, Spain and Croatia, from North and South America Peru as well as Boston and Georgia, from Asia Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand and Malaysia, from Africa Algeria and Angola, Rwanda and Senegal and from Australia Adelaide and Sydney. International hotel groups such as Accor Hotels, InterContinental Hotels Group, Radisson Hotels and NH have expanded their presence and have numerous new openings to introduce to the market.
“I see great momentum and resilience in our industry.”
Carina Bauer, CEO IMEX Group
Bauer describes the response and demand from the market as extremely strong or in one word as “fantastic”. “We are tracking extremely positively in comparison to 2022 and even 2019. In terms of buying power, the Chinese market is back and Asia in general is booming, which is driving event demand locally and internationally," says Bauer. For event planners in Europe, IMEX brings the world to Frankfurt, for example from Asia and the Middle East.
Asia: Free trade zone Asia-Pacific
The boom the fair director is observing in Asia materialises in the exhibition stands. 20 of the 21 member states of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) will be represented in Frankfurt: China, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Brunei, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, and also Canada, the USA, Mexico, Peru and Chile. Russia remains barred from IMEX due to the war of aggression on Ukraine.
APEC wants to establish the world's largest free trade zone in the Pacific region. Its member states account for half of the world's population and its economic area for more than half of the world's economic output. Only in November, Thailand hosted the APEC Summit 2022 with the general theme "Open. Connect. Balance" at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC) in Bangkok. The QSNCC operates eight halls, eight auditoriums and 50 conference rooms, which were occupied by the International Society of Nephrology for the "World Congress of Nephrology 2023" (WCN 2023) in spring. In November, the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) will hold its 62nd annual congress in Bangkok.
Watch Video: QSNCC welcomes APEC 2022
Middle East: B2B Events Fund
Business, corporate travellers and international passengers are back in the Middle East. Dubai International Airport (DXB) defended its position as the world's busiest international airport with the highest volume of international passengers last year, according to Airport Council International (ACI): in 2022, Dubai handled 66.1 million international passengers, up 127 per cent on 2022 but still down 23.5 per cent on 2019. London (LHR) came in second with 58.2 million international passengers, followed by Amsterdam (AMS) with 52.5 million, Paris (CDG) with 51.8 million and Istanbul (IST) with 48.5 million.
Many of the incoming business travellers have the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) as their destination, which recorded 1.98 million delegates at 244 business events last year, a 29 per cent increase in visitors. The 97 exhibitions and conferences represent 1.18 million delegates, 38 per cent of whom are from abroad, strengthening the emirate's position as a business hub. To further increase the number of business events in the largest of the seven United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi has launched a new fund. The capital of the United Arab Emirates wants to expand business tourism, reports The National News. The fund will use public-private partnerships to boost B2B events and provide financial support and incentives to organisers, agencies and businesses. The Abu Dhabi Convention and Exhibition Bureau (ADCEB), part of the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi, signed an agreement with Adnec Group, owner and operator of the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, to establish the fund.
Marketplace: Meet the right people
To make it easier for suppliers and buyers to get in touch with each other, the IMEX Group has invested in a new online platform. New features and tools are designed to facilitate business relationships and improve usability. The new IMEX app offers free lead scanning, allowing attendees to quickly scan and contact each other later. Intuitively usable, the app provides an overview of all leads in a person's new IMEX account. AI-powered recommendations make it faster and easier to find exhibitors, products, learning units or potential business contacts with similar interests. Attendees can select and save their favourite exhibitors and educational offers and synchronise their appointment calendars.
New online-platform for IMEX Frankfurt and IMEX America:
- Free lead scanning for all buyers and exhibitors: Traditionally an additional, paid-for service at trade shows only available to exhibitors, the new IMEX app gives all buyers and exhibitors the ability to quickly scan and connect to every individual they meet free of charge.
- Networking before, during and after IMEX: Buyers and exhibitors can now check out who’s attending IMEX and contact them.
- Recommendations: Using the AI-enabled recommendation-engine, finding exhibitors, products, learning sessions or potential business contacts with similar interests is faster and more accurate.
- Personal email and calendar integration: Attendees can select and save their preferred exhibitors and education and sync appointment calendars to their personal schedules and preferred email provider (including Outlook and Gmail).
- Bringing clients or additional colleagues to appointments: A restriction of the old platform was that appointments tended to be only one-to-one. Attendees now have the flexibility to invite multiple individuals to their appointments.
“At their heart, our shows are marketplaces, designed to connect the right people to each other and help them do more business. Alongside our new Official Tech Partner ExpoPlatform, we’ve created a new platform and online experience that truly powers this up, and at a time when new business is more prized than ever,” informs CEO Carina Bauer. Tanya Pinchuk, CEO of ExpoPlatform, adds: “Event planners are more tech-savvy than ever before, so we are excited to provide them with a strong digital-powered experience to improve the quality of in-person meetings. We can’t wait for IMEX Frankfurt and then IMEX America!”
The IMEX Group intends to further develop and improve the platform – a digital extension of IMEX 2023, on the other hand, is not planned. „We believe in the power of in-person human connections and we know that the IMEX experience is one which is best achieved live, in person”, Bauer stresses. „The marketplace that we create – which is the heart of each IMEX show – is one that brings a global community together in person and that simply cannot be re-created online.”
Luke Bilton, Chief Growth Officer at ExpoPlatform, and Carina Bauer, CEO of IMEX Group. Bauer: With our new Official Tech Partner ExpoPlatform, we have created a new platform and online experience. Foto: IMEX Group
Talking point Human Nature
The education programme at IMEX 2023 revolves around the general theme of Human Nature. “Never have we been more aware of our vulnerabilities and responsibilities as humans. Our intention with Human Nature is to encourage everyone in the global meetings, events and incentive travel industry to recognise, understand and celebrate all that’s good about being human, particularly human diversity,” Bauer explains the talking point. The 150 sessions are spread over six thematic tracks: technology and innovation, trends and research, experience design, business practices and event marketing and "People and Planet". She Means Business is part of the sixth track including sustainability, diversity, equality and inclusion. The international conference is spread over six sessions on the three days of the fair.
The new Impact Academy contributes to the general theme with its motto People, Planet, Purpose. Panels are planned, which futurologist Andreas Reiter will introduce with his keynote address "Building a better world – how to create true impact as an industry". He will show how companies act responsibly and how the event industry and its ecosystem are changing. Clemens Arnold, Managing Director of the CSR agency 2bdifferent, Claudia Krause, Head of CSR at Vok Dams, and Anne Sophie-Müller, Co-Founder of Trash Galore, will explain where the event industry stands in terms of sustainability and how impact creation can work along the supply chain.
“In the current climate, we’re all dealing with an increased pace of change. The choice is how we frame the changes that face us at any point in time,” sums up Carina Bauer. “Our learning programme at IMEX Frankfurt has been designed with great detail and care to guide people and help them embrace change to benefit their lives, their teams and their events.”