IMEX America – What a Show!
After months of planning, IMEX America has come to a close! This was the largest IMEX America to date with over 15000 attendees, of which 5000 were buyers and 2000 were Corporate End Users. It was also an amazing show for our global team with 34 exhibiting Ovation destinations, over 1000 individual appointments, and millions of smiles and hugs. The teams across the world showed what they were made of and what it takes to make it happen.
Las Vegas did not disappoint! Our local DMCs made connections on and off the trade show floor showcasing the importance of human connection for future business. It was a busy week with full agendas and our Ovation team and incredible Strategic Partners worked their socks off to deliver.
What are the key takeaways from the show? What did we see, and what learnings do we take back to our destinations?
- IMEX is Important! For another year, IMEX America has proven itself to be one of the most important trade shows for business events, by a landslide!
- Quality Meetings – Planners arrived organized and genuinely in search of business. We saw a promising number of leads for both 2024 and 2025 for the majority of our global destinations on-site.
- Partners are key – Having partners on the show floor is vital to success. From our natural collaboration with 360 Destination Group for a truly global portfolio to the hotel partners and tech partners. Establishing these connections is essential for the growth of the business and the industry as a whole.
- Walk-up meetings are just as important – Visibility as part of a global booth and cross-referencing between our destinations lead to several potential leads for our local teams. This shows how important IMEX is for networking and building new partnerships that might not have formed.
- Incentives are on the rise – The show saw an overall increase in demand for incentives to reward employees and thank them for their hard work over the last years. Especially those that dive deeper into the local culture and provide a fully immersive and unique experience for participants.
- Planner x Vendor relationships – there is an incredible respect between planners and suppliers, while a recent study from the Incentive Research Foundation also laid out that there is still a gap in 2019 versus 2023 when it comes to full confidence of this relationship. The pre- to post pandemic DMC shift from ‘we can do everything‘ to a more strategic approach on expected scope and ROI called ‘sorry, we are unable to support this time’ is also creating frustration on the planner side for smaller programs. Something that surely needs a solution in the short term.
Ovation Global DMC cannot wait to be back at IMEX soon!
See you there!