AIME
Happy 20th Birthday AIME!
The cutting of a birthday cake and three cheers marked the opening of the 20th anniversary of the Asia-Pacifi c Incentives & Meetings Expo (AIME) which took place in Melbourne, Australia on the 21-22 February.
Well-known, Australian media personality Ita Buttrose, who attended the very fi rst AIME back in 1993, opened the show and was joined by Karen Bolinger, Chief Executive Offi cer of the Melbourne Convention + Visitors Bureau (MCVB), Sally de Swart, Reed Travel Exhibition (RTE) Director of AIME, Cr Carl Jetter, representing the City of Melbourne and Sue Calwell, former MCVB CEO who started AIME 20 years ago.
The exhibition, which took place at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC), drew impressive crowds of buyers and exhibitors from around the world. Early, pre-audited statistics are positive with 500 buyers, 779 exhibitors and 3384 visitors attending, and support that after 20 years, AIME is still going strong.
Of the 779 exhibitors that attended AIME 2012, there were 206 new exhibitors including big brand names
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such as Marriott Hotels and American Express Meetings and Events. The show fl oor was also larger, taking up 5,778 m2
.
The Offi cial Welcome Reception on Monday 20 February wowed a crowd of over 2000 people at an impressive pop-up bar at the Melbourne Pavilion in Flemington where attendees were entertained with a 12-piece band, an illuminated oyster and vodka bar and Imperial Chinese kitchen.
The AIME award winners were:
• Outstanding Contribution Award: Leigh Harry, Chief Executive of Tourism Victoria • Best Stand 36m2 Dockside Group
• Best Stand Over 36m2 Tourism Fiji
and Under: :
• Best New Exhibitor Stand: American Express Meetings & Events
• Best Environmentally Sustainable Stand: Accor Asia Pacifi c
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