EIBTM exhibition director Graeme Barnett announced the launch of a new IBTM show for India, with the first one scheduled for September 2013.
He said India has a currently fragmented MICE market with enormous potential, and he expects the event to grow significantly over coming years. The first show, on September 12-14 at the Grand Hyatt inn Mumbai, is expected to see around 100 buyers and 100 suppliers meet in a pre-booked appointment programme.
Barnett also signed a deal to continue holding the EIBTM show in Barcelona's Fira Gran Via until 2016, and said this year's hosted buyer programme boasted a world record of 4,200 buyers. He anticipated a total of 15,000 delegates attending this year's show. "EIBTM has become synonymous with Barcelona since we bought the show here in 2004," he said. "It's the ideal city for us."
He added that the inclusion for the first time this year of the Business Travel pavilion and ACTE education sessions, together with Reed buying the Business Travel Market and incorporating it into WTM, showed a strategy of sharpening focus on the business travel sector. He said this reflected the trend for increasing harmonisation of travel and meetings in the marketplace.