There is expected to be $425 million in business locked in between AIME’s exhibitors and the business events buyers they met at the event over the next year.
This is up from $400 million of business deals forecast following AIME in 2025.
“AIME is uniquely built around the quality of the connections we create,” said Matt Pearce, CEO of Talk2 Media and Events which organises AIME on behalf of its owner, Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB).
“Our event is carefully curated to ensure the right people are meeting each other, which leads to stronger conversations, better partnerships and real commercial outcomes.
“The projected $425 million in business shows the value of those meetings and the role AIME plays in supporting destinations, venues and suppliers across the Asia Pacific region.”
The 2026 show was the largest show under its current organisers, with Talk2 Media taking over from Reed Exhibitions – now RX – as the organiser after the 2018 show.
This year more than 5,000 people participated in the event, including more than 765 exhibitors from 36 countries and 1,500 vetted buyers.
“AIME continues to grow in both scale and impact, with more of the global industry coming together each year to meet, connect, learn and do business,” said AIME’s event director, Silke Calder.
“The strong satisfaction scores from exhibitors and visitors show the quality of the meetings taking place and the importance of AIME as a platform for building new partnerships and future events.”
Under the current partnership arrangement, Talk2 Media has at least two shows left, after the bureau and the organiser extended the existing delivery arrangement by another three years, prior to the 2025 show, which was the last under the original agreement.
“AIME continues to shine as the premier business events trade show in our region and MCB is incredibly proud to own such an impactful event,” said MCB’s chief executive Julia Swanson.
“The ongoing success of AIME reflects the strength of our local business events industry as well as the capacity for Melbourne to host large-scale trade shows that draw exhibitors and buyers from around the world and generate record-breaking amounts of business.
“We look forward to the continued growth and success of the show as we continue to innovate and provide further opportunities for strong partnerships and excellent outcomes.”
AIME will next take place February 15-17, 2027 at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
