Looking back one week after IMEX America, I wonder how I survived and I only went for two days (it’s a full three day conference, with an additional day of education). IMEX is one of the most meaningful conferences for the meetings + incentives business, it’s tiring and immensely rewarding. Record attendance of 13,500 meeting and event planners (3,426 of which were hosted buyers), hoteliers, DMC’s, convention and visitors bureaus descended upon the Las Vegas Venetian Sands Expo and conducted 76,000 appointments. We were getting down to business!!
I had the pleasure this year of being hosted buyer again and my hosts were the lovely the Belmond Group – luxury trains, hotels and river cruises around the world. I cannot say enough good things about the extreme luxury and beauty their products have to offer. My experience at the Belmond in Iguazu Falls, Brazil was extraordinary and our Elite Group President’s Club winners loved their two special nights there last May. It’s the only hotel within the Brazilian side of the falls with views from the hotel rooms. I also was invited on a glorious trip to Peru exactly 1 year ago and experienced two Belond products – the Palacio Nazarenas a luxury hotel in Cusco and the famous Hiram Bingham Train from Cusco to Machu Picchu. I highly recommend both bucket list experiences. If you can get your group, family or friends there – it’s really an elegant unforgettable way to get to and from the magical mystical Machu Picchu.
I digress….Back to IMEX! The event is boiled down to essentially speed dating from 10am – 5pm from country to country, destination to destination you get the jist. The IMEX online tool is fantastic and allows you to plan out your days by booking meetings every half an hour with a different DMC, hotel or destination. Hosted buyers have a few mandatory pre-assigned meetings each day. It’s exhilarating and exhausting and around 3pm the bubbles + nibbles start appearing as the day rounds out and people begin their transition off the trade show floor to attend industry happy hours, dinners and events.
I met with some superb destinations, made some new friends, saw old friends and definitely feel very well informed on what I can create with different sized groups in the near future. I focused on incentives and conducted excellent reconnaissance for my clients and SpotOn Events. My top three new favorite destinations are Switzerland, Prague+Budapest and Iceland for higher end adventurous groups. Depending on the time of year each destination has interesting activity offerings and plenty of culture. Iceland offers unique adventure and beauty, Switzerland offers a sophisticated alpine destination with views for miles coupled with a friendly cheese and beer culture and Prague + Budapest are both small elegant walkable cities with lots of history and beautiful architecture.
Look forward to pitching these new destinations and getting to know them more intimately over the coming years.
