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2008 Schedule and Future Dates/ Deadlines Innovative Tools and Resources |
ABA MARKETPLACE 2008 SMASHES
ALL PREVIOUS SHOW RECORDS
The American Bus Association Marketplace in Virginia Beach Feb. 2-7 set records for registration across the board in every delegate member category, producing the most heavily attended Marketplace in the event’s 27-year history.
“’Super Tuesday’ took place during Marketplace, when 24 states voted on February 5th,” ABA President and CEO Peter J. Pantuso said. “There were 3,156 political party delegates at stake that day. During Marketplace, we had a total of 3,300 ABA registered delegates in attendance in Virginia alone. Although political party delegates and ABA Marketplace serve much different functions, the number really puts the scope of our annual show into perspective.”
The Marketplace delegates included nearly 700 registered buyers, more than 700 destination marketing organizations (DMOs), nearly 700 lodging representatives, nearly 900 attraction representatives, and more than 200 associate members, including suppliers and manufacturers. Each category represented showed record numbers, and more than 100,000 scheduled appointments were conducted on the business floor during the show.
This year’s Marketplace, which took place at the new Virginia Beach Convention Center, was also the greenest Marketplace ever. The Virginia Beach facility has been certified by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality as a “Green Facility,” meeting strict criteria for eco-friendliness, including recyclable paper towels and auto-dimming lights on the show floor. Nearly all of the 14 motorcoaches on the show floor were EPA compliant for the strict emissions regulations adopted in 2007.
“Between the business appointments, networking opportunities, and educational seminars, we successfully conducted the brisk business that everyone expects to get out of the Marketplace experience,” Pantuso added. “With the salute to the military, the Marketplace Gives Back $25,000 donation to the American Cancer Society, the outreach to underprivileged students, the ABA Foundation auctions, and the sightseeing and evening events, we showed why we keep growing every year as the premier event in the group travel community.”
For the first time, ABA posted in real-time on buses.org the Marketplace Dailies published during the show . More than 100 new photos from the show are also on the ABA website for viewing and printing.
Marketplace travels in 2009 to Charlotte, the Capital Region surrounding Washington in 2010, Philadelphia in 2011 and Grapevine, Texas in 2012, site of the 2007 event.
Final numbers and delegate listing will be sent to all registered delegates at the end of February. Delegates will also have access to the Marketplace Passport for follow-up through March 2008.
Marketplace 2008 Statistics
- 3302 Final Delegate Count
- 717 Buyers Delegates
- 713 DMO Delegates
- 657 Lodging Delegates
- 864 Attractions/LRO Delegates
- 238 Associates Delegates
About Marketplace
View our new Marketplace Video to learn all about Marketplace
The American Bus Marketplace is the premier business event for the group travel industry. The appointments are the core of the show; which allow Buyers and Sellers to meet face-to-face in prescheduled seven-minute appointments. In addition to the quality appointments, Marketplace offers professional education seminars and numerous networking opportunities.
Our newest show component, the MARKET at Marketplace, offers operators the opportunity to view the industry’s latest products and services. Associate members can now showcase their products and services on the exhibit floor to the more than 320 operator companies who attend Marketplace. With the addition of The MARKET, Marketplace is a one-stop shop for the group travel and motorcoach industry to build business relationships, conduct one-to-one business appointments, view the newest products and services, learn about the latest trends and industry information, and network - all resulting in providing our members with a greater return on investment.
Buyers who are bus owners and tour operators, come to meet with Sellers who are travel industry representatives from destination marketing organizations (cities, areas, states), attractions, restaurants, receptive operators, hotels and associate service suppliers. These business sessions allow Buyers and Sellers to plan trip itineraries for motorcoach group travel throughout the US and Canada.
Sellers attend Marketplace to sell their destination, attraction, restaurant etc to motorcoach and tour operators. Sellers also network with their peers in the group travel industry.
Buyers attend Marketplace to learn more about new destinations, to meet personally with people with whom they conduct business, and to socialize with other Buyers.
Marketplace week runs from Saturday through Thursday evening. The show is held annually, usually in February, in a different North American city each year.
The Business Sessions, or Appointment Sessions, are conducted and are the core of Marketplace. The appointment sessions are held on the Marketplace Business Floor, which is a secured area. Only delegates belonging to the group that are taking appointments during that particular session are allowed on the Business Floor. Delegates are assigned different colored badges depending on their business type grouping. These colors determine access to the Business Floor where appointments are conducted. The color and design change every year. All Buyers have access to the Business Floor at any time. Associates who are not registered as appointment-taking delegates do not have access to the Business Floor.
There are 7 appointment sessions for a total of 182 appointments. Buyers have a maximum of 182 appointments, as they take appointments throughout the week with each of the Seller groups. Sellers have a maximum of 52 appointments. These 52 appointments are scheduled in 2 out of the 7 sessions. The primary group (DMO, Lodging, or Attraction/LRO/Other) the company belongs to determines which of the 2 sessions are assigned.
The Marketplace Business Floor consists of 8x8 booths where Buyers sit. Each booth contains a 6’ table and 2 chairs inside the booth, an outside chair for the Seller to sit in, and an ID sign giving the Buyer company name, location and attendee number.
Appointment-taking Sellers move from Buyer to Buyer every seven minutes. There is an announcer who announcers the time and the number of the appointment so the Sellers know when to move to the next Buyer. The announcer also gives the delegates a one-minute warning so they know to start wrapping up. Sellers are divided into groups, broken down by business type, that meet with Buyers at specific times. These groups are:
- Destinations Marketing Organizations (DMO’s) – Mon AM/ Mon PM appointments
- Lodgings – Tues AM/Tues PM appointments
- Attraction/LRO/Other – Wed AM/Thurs AM/Thurs PM appointments (Organizations that fall into the Attraction/LRO/Other group are assigned randomly to two of these three sessions.)
ABA carefully monitors the number of Seller Appointment-Taking delegates allowed based on the number of Buyer Appointment-Taking delegates registered. By maintaining a near one-to-one ratio in each session, ABA offers quality appointments for all delegates.
Each Seller session is scheduled a 20-minute Mating and Networking Session where they can exchange profile forms, business cards and make contacts. This is an opportunity to connect with Buyer delegates that Sellers could not be matched up with for prescheduled appointment. Buyers are required to be in their booths during these scheduled sessions.
Education seminars, luncheons, city tours, opening and closing celebrations, and evening events are on-going activities throughout Marketplace week and are open to all registered delegates and a valuable part of the Marketplace experience.
Statistics
Marketplace 2007
- 3000 Total Delegates
- 337 Appointment-taking Buyers
- 660 Total Operators from 318 Companies
- 132,962 Requests Made from 64 states/provinces in 3 countries
- 102,346 appointment scheduled
- 99% of mutual requests scheduled
- 56% Increase for Western States participation
- 383 Non-Members joined ABA and registered for MKPL 07 from July 17, 2006
- Buyers: 660 Delegates (5% increase)
- DMO: 615 Delegates (3% decrease)
- Lodging: 600 Delegates (9% increase)
- Attractions: 768 Delegates (1% increase)
Marketplace 2006
- 2823 Total Delegates
- 331 Appointment-taking Buyers
- 630 Total Operators
- 11% Western Participation Increase
- Buyers: 26% increase
- DMO: 7% increase
- Lodging: 3% increase
- Attractions: 5% increase
Future Marketplaces
Charlotte, North Carolina: January 7-12, 2009
Gaylord National on the Potomac: January 15-19, 2010
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: January 7-15, 2011
Grapevine, Texas: January 7-12, 2012
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