I have been fortunate in leading the development of successful meetings industry trade shows in very different parts of the world, in different locations in Europeand Asia, in the Middle East, in Australia, in North and South America. One of the critical success factors in all successful meetings show is the involvement of the destination supply chain and how they partner with the show.
But what advantages can be gained for such a partner? Firstly it needs to be acknowledged that in terms of selling a destination the presence of a meetings show is the equivalent of hosting the biggest fam trip the destination and its hotels and venues will ever see. What is the price for such an opportunity? The business of meetings is characterised by most first time bookings being made on the basis of site inspections with the need to establish credible and trusting relationships and what better way of doing this by demonstrating what a special destination or venue you have or professional service which you provide. By supporting the trade show by way of providing say, complimentary hotel rooms in return for direct exposure to the buyers you access these potential future clients at a far lower cost but benefit from massive economies of scale by having so many there at the same time.
But partnership is also about defining quite clearly what you need in return, such as brand marketing on show literature, hosted buyers recruited from specific geographical markets, the chance to entertain the buyers. All these marketing opportunities would normally not be cheap and this demonstrates where there is a genuine exchange of goods and services. The economic benefits to a meetings show host destinations can be considerable with Barcelona generating something like 50 million euros during EIBTM and around the same in subsequent bookings for the city. This is of course a much larger event but the principle is the same – the city supply chain provides investment for long term gain on a repeat basis and importantly the supply chain gets involved with the show at various levels, including participating in the conference programme and serving on the advisory group – most of all they act as ambassadors for the show – helping in its and their business success. Trade show partners have to work on the success of the show, just as with any marketing activity!
Paul Kennedy
