Messe tackles messy buyer problem
The organiser of ITB Asia, the largest travel mart in the region, reports it has introduced new filtering techniques to exclude buyers who failed to live up to appointment commitments during past shows.
Messe Berlin (Singapore) says improved hosted buyers’ programme for ITB Asia 2010 will ensure only “high quality buyers will enter the pre-scheduled appointment system to meet exhibitors.” ITB Asia takes place in Singapore, 20 to 22 October.
“We want to focus on quality over quantity,” said ITB Asia executive director, Nino Gruettke, who leads the ITB Asia team in Singapore. “We will limit hosted buyers to 700 and make sure these are the best we can get,” he said.
He did not give a definition of quality or whether it would be identified in the company’s financial profile, the market segment it focused on or its pricing of end products.
But there are hints of the problem that all travel mart organisers face reflected in the new rules geared to weed out no-shows on the floor.
First, buyers will only be allowed to register during three periods — 12 to 30 April, 3 to 21 May, and 5 to 23 July.
“Only allowing three periods of registration will allow us to better control the geographical and sector mix of buyers,” said Mr Gruettke.
After the first and second round of registrations, Messe Berlin (Singapore) will still be able to select its wish-list buyers before opening the third period of registration. The aim is to ensure that the buyer profile is properly balanced.
Second, ITB Asia will use a social media-like networking and referral approach. Buyers with a strong track record will be able to recommend other buyers to be invited by ITB Asia.
“It works like a job recommendation,” said Mr Gruettke. “The recommender’s own reputation sticks to the recommended person. Buyers therefore become partners in increasing the show’s quality,” he said.
He did not elaborate on the criteria buyers would need to follow to justify their recommendation.
Third, exhibitors will be encouraged to nominate buyers. Once approved, these buyers will be invited by Messe Berlin (Singapore) on behalf of the exhibitor.
Buyers with an excellent track record at the previous two ITB Asia shows will be invited again this year.
“We welcome the changes by ITB Asia on the qualification process for the buyers’ programme,” said Asia Pacific for the Preferred Hotel Group, executive director, Josephine Lim, “They will help elevate the overall quality of the show. We look forward to achieving great results this year.”
Buyers interested in attending ITB Asia 2010, can submit their applications online at www.itb-asia.com between 12 and 30 April.
Messe Berlin (Singapore) positions ITB Asia as “The Trade Show for the Asian Travel Market.” The company is a subsidiary of Messe Berlin, which has organised ITB Berlin for 44 years.
