Held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC), there will be more than 200 new exhibitors attending AIME 2025, along with two new international pavilions, Singapore and Thailand, joining 30 countries and territories represented at the event.
There will be 170 hosted international buyers from New Zealand, Europe, the UK, Southeast Asia, North Asia, India, South America, USA, and Canada and more than 470 domestic buyers – with 3 in 4 hosted buyers attending AIME for the first time.
This builds on the exceptional growth of 2024 – where more than $330 million of business was forecast to be traded between exhibitors and buyers in the 12 months following – and cements AIME as the leading event for the international business events community in the Asia Pacific region.
The event is owned by Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB) and managed by Talk2 Media & Events and this will be the fourth show delivered by AIME Event Director Silke Calder and her team. With more than 20,000 meetings taking place across AIME – including more than 15,000 meetings pre-scheduled between highly vetted buyers and matched exhibitors – the expanded show floor will be the place where the business events world meets in Asia Pacific to do business.
This year the Knowledge Program will feature a new panel discussion, Global Insights and Business Outlook for 2025, featuring Carina Bauer, Chief Executive Officer – IMEX Group; Senthil Gopinath, Chief Executive Officer – International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA); Tim Groot, Chief Executive Officer and Founder – Grip; and Sven Bossu, Chief Executive Officer at AIPC.
Curated by El Kwang and BEAMexperience with the support of an Advisory Committee consisting of eight industry leaders from the APAC region, the Knowledge Program continues with 20 breakout sessions with topics that range from nurturing emerging talent and harnessing AI to safeguarding creativity and understanding the impact of consumer experience on event outcomes.
Concluding AIME’s first day, the eagerly anticipated Welcome Event will be held this evening (Mon 10 Feb) at il Mercato Centrale in Melbourne’s city centre. Themed the AIMalfi FESTA, more than 2000 people will experience the interactive Italian artisan food market that’s been transformed into the Amalfi Coast exclusively for the AIME Welcome Event.
The AIME trade expo takes place on Tue 11 and Wed 12 Feb. In 2025 AIME will have extended opening hours to allow hosted buyers and visitors more time to meet with exhibitors. AIME opens at 8.30am on both days and runs until 6pm on 11 Feb and closes at 5pm on 12 Feb.
The International Association of Convention Centres will be holding AIPC @ AIME 2025, a half-day summit for convention and exhibition centre executives, at MCEC on the final day of AIME, Wed 12 Feb. In 2025, for the first time the global exhibitions association UFI will co-locate its 2025 Asia-Pacific Conference in Melbourne, holding it at MCEC following AIME on 13-14 Feb.
The AIME Leaders Forum hosted by the Australian Business Events Association will take place on the morning following AIME, 13 Feb.
For more information visit aime.com.au.
