IMEX America 2020 has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, show organizers announced Wednesday.
The largest U.S. exhibition for incentive travel, meetings and events would have celebrated its 10th anniversary in Las Vegas in September. The 2019 event featured more than 14,000 attendees, 3,400 exhibitors (from 150+ countries) and 76,000 pre-scheduled appointments between buyers and exhibitors at the Sands Expo Convention Center in Las Vegas.
Ray Bloom, IMEX Group chair, and Carina Bauer, IMEX Group CEO, issued a joint statement saying it was with “great regret and disappointment” that they made the difficult decision to cancel IMEX America 2020.
“Our industry has been impacted heavily by the global lockdowns and travel restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and we know how many of you were looking forward to coming together again in Las Vegas this fall,” they said in the statement. “We’re acutely aware that since lockdown began, IMEX America 2020 has come to represent a beacon of hope for the entire business events community. We assure you; no-one is more disappointed than the IMEX team that we can’t fulfill that expectation. However, we must also be realistic about the current reality.”
“We’re optimistic that meeting face to face will play an important role in helping our economies and all the industries we serve to regenerate and recover.”
There were three main reasons that factored into the decision to cancel IMEX America 2020.
One was the IMEX’s responsibility to exhibitors to deliver a return on the investment they make in the show.
“We do this through our guarantee of delivering a high-quality, large-scale hosted buyer program,” the statement said. “With corporate travel bans still in place and uncertainty over continued global travel restrictions, we’re sadly in no position to offer that guarantee.”
Second was timing. With a show the scale of IMEX America, the industry supply chain and investments that exhibitors make in the show needed to start now, and IMEX made the decision to reduce the risk and exposure for exhibitors, partners and suppliers.
Finally, with more than a third of the industry professionals who attend the event coming from outside North America, uncertainty about when global travel restrictions would be lifted made it impossible for a large proportion of exhibitors, buyers and key industry professionals to commit to attending.
“It is for these reasons that we’ve taken the difficult decision to cancel IMEX America for 2020,” the statement said. “Our team has spent the past few weeks in constant contact with our exhibitors, partners and suppliers and we’ve been overwhelmed by, and so grateful for, the support we’ve received.”
Visitors to PlanetIMEX are granted unlimited, free access to a variety of content and activities.
One of those messages came from Paul Van Deventer, president and CEO of MPI, IMEX’s largest strategic partner.
“For the past three months, the meetings and live events industry have been inordinately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the cancellation of IMEX America by our strategic partners and friends at the IMEX Group being the latest significant blow,” Van Deventer said. “Our hearts go out to the entire IMEX family. We appreciate and understand how tough a decision this was to make and know fully that IMEX will be at the forefront of our industry’s recovery, because alongside them, we are all smarter and stronger together.”
MPI has a strong presence at IMEX America through organizing and executing Smart Monday, powered by MPI, a day of high-level education prior to the start of the trade show; the MPI Foundation’s Rendezvous, an after-hours event that supports scholarships and grants for industry professionals; and other events.
“With the announcement of the IMEX America cancellation today, the entire MPI family and community are saddened at the loss of this iconic industry event,” said Darren Temple, chief operations officer at MPI. “It represents more than just a robust hosted buyer program; it brought our industry together for the benefit of all. In addition, IMEX America was a pivotal week for our MPI Foundation fundraising efforts with Rendezvous; the Red, White & You wine auction; and our silent auction.
“Even in the darkness of this announcement, we are beginning to see some bright spots as DMOs and hotels begin to reopen their doors and welcome group business back to their destinations. We consider the IMEX family as part of the MPI family, and we will continue to partner with them to weather this storm and help reimagine our industry and a better day for all.”
MPI’s signature education event, the World Education Congress (WEC), is still scheduled for November in Grapevine, Texas.
“IMEX will be at the forefront of our industry’s recovery, because alongside them, we are all smarter and stronger together.”
IMEX earlier this year cancelled its IMEX in Frankfurt event, citing uncertainty caused by local endorsements and recommendations for banning events in excess of 1,000 participants in Germany as well as the trade group’s own responsibility towards exhibitors and partners.
IMEX then launched PlanetIMEX, a virtual platform designed as a destination in its own right featuring 3D, interactive islands—each created using principles borrowed from the world of online gaming. Visitors to PlanetIMEX are granted unlimited, free access to a variety of content and activities on three islands: a beach-themed Community Island, a forest-inspired Education Island and a Networking Island characterized by canyons, mountains and valleys.
“We’ll continue to work on this virtual platform and the industry can expect to see innovations and plenty of fresh activity online during September and beyond,” IMEX said Wednesday.
IMEX said it is planning to return both its IMEX event in Frankfurt and IMEX America in 2021.
“We know that nothing we do online can make up for the loss of meeting, celebrating and doing business together face to face in Las Vegas at what would have been the 10th anniversary of IMEX America,” Bloom and Bauer said in their statement. “We’ll miss shaking your hands, giving our industry friends a well-earned hug and looking you in the eye with a warm smile. However, true to the spirit of IMEX and our heartfelt commitment to the industry we love, we’ll do our very best to deliver our customary high-quality content, business connections plus a dash of fun through our online experience until we can all meet again.
“We believe strongly in the resilience, flexibility and creativity of our industry. We’re optimistic that meeting face to face will play an important role in helping our economies and all the industries we serve to regenerate and recover. We’re certain that globally there’s a great deal of pent-up demand to come together for both business and for pleasure, once it is safe to do so. We WILL meet again and, like you, we can’t wait for that moment to come.”
Other industry leaders sent messages of support to the IMEX Group team.
John Schreiber, VP of business sales, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority: “While we are disappointed IMEX America won’t be held in Las Vegas this fall, we understand and support the decision. Las Vegas has just started the process of reopening our resorts, and our top priority remains ensuring our community and visitors stay safe, while also enjoying a fulfilling only-in-Vegas experience. We believe that once this crisis is behind us IMEX America will be more vital than ever to reinvigorating the global business events industry. We are thrilled to welcome IMEX America 2021 to Las Vegas, and hope we’ll see all of you there.
David Dubois, CMP, CAE, FASAE, CTA, president and CEO, IAEE: “The two IMEX annual shows continue to be extremely valuable and engaging as they gather thousands of exhibitions and business events professionals together to celebrate and enhance our industry. We look forward to welcoming back and attending both shows again in 2021. Please do know that we appreciate how difficult times are right now and we will all work hard to come out of these challenges even stronger and will help make our industry even more valuable to our global economies.”
James Rees, president, and Senthil Gopinath, CEO, ICCA: “Our whole industry will be disappointed to hear this news, however in the circumstances it is understandably the right decision and gives all of us as stakeholders a good period of notice to change plans that had been made. The whole ICCA community stands together with Ray, Carina and the IMEX team and we look forward to supporting both IMEX in Frankfurt and IMEX America in 2021 when we will meet again to build the trusted business relationships which lay at the foundation of every IMEX event.”
Kai Hattendorf, MD/CEO, UFI, and president, JMIC: “JMIC is sorry to hear about the cancellation of IMEX America for this year, but we fully support the decision Ray and Carina had to take. Our industry is losing a flagship show for this year yet again after the cancellation of IMEX in Frankfurt. Yes, we will meet online—but eyeballs don’t discuss deals, they don’t sign orders and they don’t deepen connections. So, we look all the more forward into 2021. The task for us as the industry right now is to stand united, and to do what we can to re-open the meeting places and the marketplaces of the world in a safe way for our colleagues and customers to be there.”
