Among the 1,500 exhibitors at IMEX America will be a large proportion of US destinations and suppliers. Among the largest will be Las Vegas and its partners at over 4,000 square feet. California and Hawaii and its partners will each have areas of over 1,500 square feet. Other North American exhibitors will include Washington DC, Denver, Canada, Colorado, San Francisco, Atlantic City, Boston, LA Inc, Miami, San Diego, NYC, Denver, and New Orleans. Many other cities are also taking part in the trade show, with regions such as Bloomington, Monterey County, Tahoe North, Palm Springs, Wyoming, and Telluride also represented.

Latin America has also shown a strong appetite for space, with Mexico, Argentina, Panama, and Costa Rica all confirmed. Caribbean exhibitors, too, will be out in force including the Bahamas, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, and the Caribbean Tourism Organisation.

Among the new show’s major European exhibitors will be Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Tourism Authority, Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland, London&Partners, Spain, Switzerland, and Turkey. In addition, Germany, Italy, and Portugal are all taking very sizeable booths.

As at IMEX in Frankfurt, hotels will account for a significant proportion of all IMEX America booths. 50 hotel groups have so far contracted, including most of the major international hotel groups such Starwood, IHG, Marriott, Leading Hotels of the World, Carlson Hotels, Shangri-La, Ritz-Carlton, and Mandarin Oriental; as well as many other North American-focused hotel chains including Loews Hotels, Peabody Orlando, and Gaylord.

From other important world markets, Dubai and South Africa are confirmed, plus a strong showing from Asia Pacific including Japan, New Zealand, China, Korea, Seoul, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Malaysia, who will all have a big presence and purpose-designed booths that will add color, culture, and visual interest to the show.

VISUALLY STRIKING BOOTHS BRING DIVERSE CULTURES TO LIFE

Taking a page from IMEX in Frankfurt - where many countries dress their staff in traditional costumes and demonstrate their unique appeal by staging traditional welcoming ceremonies, offering local refreshments or gifts and holding themed after-hour parties - visual and cultural diversity is also set to be a very prominent aspect of IMEX America. This unique look and feel in the booths is another element that will set it apart from “normal” US trade shows, making it entertaining, while highlighting the business value and wonderful diversity of the global meetings market.

UNIQUE APPOINTMENT SYSTEM MAXIMIZES AT-SHOW OPPORTUNITIES

Another point of difference for IMEX America is the show’s unique online appointment and diary system. By putting buyers and exhibitors in direct touch and in full control of their own marketing and communications prior to the show via an online scheduling tool, organizers have proved they can generate high volumes of business.

In Frankfurt this year, more than 57,000 individual appointments were scheduled between buyers and exhibitors even before the show had opened. In the process of making those appointments, both sides were able to set the agenda for the meeting, discuss Requests for Proposals in detail, and clear other questions up ahead of time so when they met on the show floor they could get right down to business. This combination of efficiency, transparency, and full ownership of the buyer/supplier relationship is one of the keys to IMEX’s success in Frankfurt and is expected to break new ground in the US. This is all supported by the mobile-based IMEX App, which allows buyers and other attendees to keep on top of a full daily schedule at all times, regardless of where they are.

City.Mobi

Also in North America today, City.Mobi is celebrating the success of its new guide to Las Vegas.

City.Mobi offers the most comprehensive mobile travel guides available, with over 800 cities in 200 countries listed. Each is developed by the City.Mobi team to combine into a single global travel directory.

However, each city retains its own mobile identity via a dedicated domain. Already on offer are Brussels.Mobi, Paris.Mobi, Sanfrancisco.Mobi and Sydney.Mobi.

Las Vegas.Mobi is the latest in this illustrious line up, offering click to call functionality – which means no scribbling down telephone numbers.

Most entries are also linked to websites where users can quickly access more detailed information if needed.

Other key features include information on accommodation, restaurants, attractions, entertainment, nightlife, shopping, and transport.

City.Mobi guides include user reviews and traveller utilities such as a translation guide, currency converter, news and local weather guide.