IMEX Frankfurt Welcomes 12,000 to Frankfurt, Germany

By Todd McElwee

Pointing to what organizers called a “notable surge of confidence and business certainty in the global events industry,” the 2024 edition of IMEX Frankfurt welcomed 12,000 event professionals through the doors of Messe Frankfurt.

Buyers numbered 4,000, with north of 60,000 meetings pre-booked and thousands more taking place on the show floor.

Ray Bloom, IMEX Group Chairman, said: “I’m delighted to see the return of the Asian market. I’ve heard that one of our exhibitors, Japan, which had its largest ever representation, has used the show to communicate the business readiness of those areas affected by the recent earthquake.”

Bloom also observed that Africa is experiencing growth and maturity within the sector with Uganda stating that tourism, of which business events is included, has now officially overtaken coffee as its dominant market.

IMEX said its Talking Point for the next two years, “Impact,” was embraced by partners and exhibitors with Sarawak’s multi-sensory activations at the show entrances striking a friendly, welcoming note and others such as Singapore, Houston and Glasgow all launching different impact projects during the week.

New this year was the dedicated Impact Zone led by MICE Impact, a co-creative area that united planners, suppliers, and partners with a range of workshops, panels, and stakeholder discussions.

The Google Xi CoLaboratory returned while others offering both tailored education and a variety of activations included Maritz, Encore and associations. More than 200 learning opportunities were available through initiatives such as Exclusively Corporate and Association Focus.

As part of IMEX’s drive toward becoming net zero, for the first time all attendees had the chance to make a personal and positive climate contribution by “balancing” their travel to and from Frankfurt thanks to a new partnership with Cloverly. Once logged in to their IMEX account, attendees can see their estimated carbon footprint​,​ which they can then choose to offset by investing in a selection of carbon credit projects from around the world.

“Through our work with Cloverly, we’re enabling our show attendees to play an active part in addressing climate change,” said Carina Bauer, CEO, IMEX Group. “It’s now clear that in addition to reducing emissions, which IMEX is already working on, the world urgently also needs to remove carbon from the atmosphere and store it permanently. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), carbon removals are now unavoidable to get to net zero by 2050—and we can all play our part in making a collective positive impact.”

She continued: “Our partnership with Cloverly represents an important milestone for IMEX on our journey to achieving net zero ahead of the 2050 timeline set out in the Paris Agreement. We’re also demonstrating our commitment by investing in these portfolios to mitigate emissions from our own team’s travel to the shows.”

On May 15, industry luminaries were honored at the IMEX Frankfurt Gala Dinner Awards. Winners include:
• Destinations International Global Ambassador Award: Paul Kelly CEO, Fáilte Ireland
• IAEE International Excellence Award: Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Exposition/CCPIT Chengdu Sub-Council
• ASAE Global Association Visionary Award: Susan Sarfati, CEO, High Performance Strategies
• IAPCO Driving Excellence – Innovation Award: Claire Smyth, Sales and Marketing Director, Conference Partners International
• ICCA Global Influencer Award: Marie Hunter, Manager Director, Conferences, Events & Experiences, The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• JMIC Unity Award: Peter King, Inaugural Chair, Australian Business Events Association
• MPI Foundation Student Scholarship Award : Hlolohelo Zwane, Tshwane North College, South Africa
• Jane E. Schuldt SITE Master Motivator Award : Padraic Gilligan, Chief Marketing Officer, SITE
• IMEX EIC Innovation in Sustainability Award: TED Conferences
• Paul Flackett IMEX Academy Awards: Frank Murangwa, Director of Destination Marketing, Rwanda Convention Bureau; Bonnie Carlson, President & CEO, Bloomington MN, CVB; Christoph Tessmar, Director, Barcelona Turisme
IMEX America will take place on October 8–10 in Las Vegas.