Asia-Pacific’s premier B2B show took place last week at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) in Melbourne, AU, with record numbers in attendance and a longstanding record of success.
This year’s Asia Pacific Incentives and Meeting Event (AIME) boasted more than 4,500 attendees, 640 hosted buyers and 675 exhibitors from around the world (including the U.S.) who gathered to transact business in 20,000 meetings that were matched down to the last detail with the AI-powered Grip event platform—used at AIME for the first time.
“Meeting matching is becoming more of a trend in meetings, and AI is constantly developing the platforms,” noted Julia Swanson, CEO of the Melbourne Convention Bureau in a media press conference. “We’re getting much tighter meeting matching. The data is driving it, and we see the success of that.”
Once the Grip system does the matching, buyers are left with 32 meetings during the trade show.
“Our job is to bring together the right sets of people,” Silke Calder, AIME’s Event Director, told Prevue. “Our mix is 65 percent domestic and 35 percent Asia, and our buyers have been selected and vetted, and muar have business here for the next three years.”
First Nations & Other Firsts
Without exception, every event at AIME 2025 started with an acknowledgement of the land’s ancestral owners—the Wurundjeri Woi Wurring of Kulin nation, once hunters and gatherers along the Yarra River, which encompasses most of modern-day Melbourne. Considered the world’s oldest living culture, the East Kulin Nation have lived in the area for more than 65,000 years, and a tribal elder opened the convention with a yidaki, a traditional Aboriginal instrument.
In the present day, more “firsts” at this year’s show included 100 more exhibitors than last year, the biggest New Zealand delegation to date and new pavilions for Thailand and Singapore.
“The growth is a testimony to AIME’s success in doing business,” said Matt Pearce, Director of AIME organizer Talk 2 Media & Events. “The range and type of exhibitors is as important to our buyers as our impressive numbers. We continue to set new benchmarks for excellence.”
Setting benchmarks for creativity and imagination were the activations on the trade show floor. We walked past a Hobbit cottage, a racecar simulator, a Wonka-themed teambuilding booth and much more.
Trends for 2025
Boasting an expanded Knowledge Program—themed We Matter! this year—AIME 2025 focused on the global events industry as a powerful driver of economic growth and innovation, which informed keynote sessions in the Plenary, as the main auditorium is called.
Among the keynote speakers was investor and entrepreneur Gus Balbontin, who posed and answered an important question: “Why do we stop doing new things as adults? Fear, and the time it takes to implement new things,” he said, encouraging the audience to let go of doing things the same way over and over. “Your brain will benefit from discomfort,” he promised.
Another keynote was a panel discussion with an all-star industry panel: El Kwang, Founder & Chief Engager of BEAMexperience; Carina Bauer, CEO of the IMEX Group; Senthil Copinath, CEO of ICCA; Sven Bossu, CEO AIPC; and Tim Groot, CEO and Founder of Grip.
Global Insights and the Outlook for 2025 were discussed, with sustainability and AI featuring prominently.
So-called “greenwashing” needs to be replaced by the real thing, Carina Bauer told the audience. “The events industry has realized that [sustainability] is not just a nice thing to have, but fundamental to what we’re trying to do,” she said.
Sven Bossu explained that longer trips can translate into greater sustainability. “What we’re seeing is people traveling less but staying longer,” he said. “Companies are combining their annual meetings and the convention… we’ll also be seeing the big trade shows become more sustainable with more meetings [during the show] being included.”
As for the prevalence of AI, Bauer praised its application for meeting planners. “The new AI can do what people are still doing with spreadsheets,” she said.
Another take on technology was presented by Dr. Kristy Goodwin, who said things like smartphones were “robbing our time, energy and attention.”
“We are living in a way that is antithetical to how we were designed,” Goodwin said, suggesting tactics such as getting a minimum 10 minutes of sunlight every morning to combat stress.
- @melbourneconventionbureau
- #MeetinMelbourne
- @businesseventsaustralia
- #AIME2025
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