With events on 5 continents for the global meetings industry, Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE) is undertaking its first worldwide research among its total buyer and supplier database that will establish, twice a year, the first qualitative data and information on volume and value trends as well as the major issues affecting the industry.

With thousands of companies and individuals involved in the 5 meetings industry events including AIME, AIBTM, CIBTM, EIBTM and GIBTM plus relevant meeting professionals from other RTE events - World Travel Market, Arabian Travel Market, the Luxury Travel portfolio of ILTM Asia and ILTM Cannes, this unique insight will provide exhibitors and visitors from all these events with a summary of global trends, local and regional information from each country, as well as details of issues affecting the market area for each of the portfolio of events.

Craig Moyes, Group Exhibitions Director for RTE global meetings industry portfolio announced; “We are the only organiser to have such a portfolio of events around the world and leveraging this strength and reach of our data that covers Europe, Asia Pacific, China, Australia, US and Europe will secure a critical mass that should give a very interesting and powerful knowledge base. Add to that the international databases for our Hosted Buyer programmes and the 17,000 exhibitors and trade visitors, we realise just how interesting the results of this research could be for the industry as a whole.”

“We plan to not only use email but to also post on our social media websites as well and use our individual event portals. Through all these channels we hope to have a good percentage on which to base our findings. We urge everyone in the industry to also take part by going to www.ibtmevents.com”.

With new countries and regions rapidly becoming major players in the meetings market as inbound and outbound generators, particularly those where RTE have IBTM shows (e.g. Middle east and China) the destinations being selected and those generating major traffic are changing dramatically. RTE will monitor the trends and help IBTM exhibitors and visitors to understand where to focus their marketing activities and budgets and identify what destinations need to do to best meet market needs and maximise potential.

This first global research will be produced by industry expert Sally Greenhill of The Right Solution, one of the UK’s leading consultants in the development of conference and events facilities and destinations and has been providing research on a local and regional level for the RTE meetings portfolio on an annual basis for the past 6 years.

Destination partners including Barcelona Convention Bureau, Baltimore Tourism and Melbourne Convention & Visitors Bureau joined with RTE and The Right Solution to include their M&I databases to help increase the coverage and penetration for the survey.

Mr Tom Noonan, President and CEO Visit Baltimore said: “We are delighted to play our part in this significant piece of global research and look forward to the presentation of the Americas results at AIBTM in June 2012”.

Mr Keith Herdman, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Melbourne Convention + Visitors Bureau (MCVB) said the organisation was in full support of the project. “I commend Reed Travel Exhibitions on this global research project initiative and urge all conference and meetings planners, as well as members of the business events industry, to take part,”