Meet the buyers

• Kip Horton President, International Division,HPN Global, UNITED STATES

  “GIBTM from its inception has helped people in the Middle East connect. Whether you are looking for great DMC partners, meeting new Hotel teams or just want to understand a destination better, GIBTM lets you do that all in one concise place.  The first time I walked in the show I thought I would be done seeing things in 3 hours. Invariably I now find that at the end of three days there are still some folks I did not get to connect with because I was so busy. As this region gains prominence as a destination for group meetings and incentives, anyone planning on working there needs to be at GIBTM. Whether it’s to renew old partnerships or establish new ones, GIBTM is not to be missed……"

  Marcio Torres,  Incentive Group Coordinator, DMC Brazil, Brazil Agency

   

  “After almost 31 years in the Tourism Industry and more specifically the last 16 dedicated to the Incentive and Events Travel Business I know, for a fact, that attending events, congresses and fairs related to the travel industry are a must. The updating and learning is a non stop and vital process.   The majority of our Incentive and Events' groups are concentrated in South, North America and Western Europe - need to gather more information on the rest of the world and try to sell it to our clients! This will be my first visit to GIBTM and I am of course eager to see what one can learn from all the exhibitors planned to be there!”

   

  Konrad Ludwig Ferdinand Klockner, Conference Manager, EUROMICRO Conferences, Germany

  “As a conference organizer I am always looking for attractive destinations for our events. After organizing our conferences in Europe in recent years it is time now to widen our destination horizon. GIBTM seems to offer me an ideal overview on Middle East destinations.      The products that I am interested in are conference hotels with capacities for 80-250 pax at medium rates, perhaps conference centres - if not too large for us.  In this context catering and facilities for evening events are of interest as well.  My core reason for attending is to learn if the VAE is a suitable environment for holding scientific conferences for us.”

   

  Sara Spencer ,Conference Manager, Select Biosciences, Conference Manager, UNITED KINGDOM

  “Select Biosciences provides training courses and conferences to the life science marketplace. Specialising in early stage drug discovery and omics, we provide open forums for learning and networking, with the aim of fostering discussion and debate to advance disease research.      Our specialist portfolio of global life science events provide attendees with a rich learning and networking environment where they can share and discuss the latest developments in their field. Ideal for professionals working in industry and academic settings within life science.  At the moment we do not hold events in the Middle East, but it is a geographical area that we are very interested in moving into hence my attendance at GIBTM.    I would be interested in meeting venues, suppliers and people that are able to advise on the ease and support that is provided to event organisers."

   

  Michael Christian Schultz-Tholen, Hon. Secretary General, Federation of International Polo, GERMANY

  “I attend GIBTM to have direct personal contact with selected suppliers from the Gulf Area. With regard to my future projects - especially in UAE - I am focussed on 5* Hotels and hope maybe to have the chance to visit some appropriate properties as it was the case in my first participation in 2009.”