Since Talk2 Media took over the delivery of AIME – owned by Melbourne Convention Bureau – from Reed Exhibitions (now RX) in 2019, exhibitors and hosted buyers have more than doubled.
micenet’s magazine archives show Reed’s last show in 2018 had 250 hosted buyers and “a reported 300 exhibitors”.
In 2025, there are around 640 hosted buyers and 675 exhibitors, alongside hosted media – including micenet. Altogether, more than 4,500 people are expected to attend the event at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre between Monday and Wednesday this week.
“I’m delighted to say that AIME is the biggest it’s been since my talented team at Talk2 Media have been running the event,” said Talk2 Media’s director, Matt Pearce, at this morning’s opening press conference for the event.
“And in an environment where there are new entrants and regional events have sprung up, this growth is testimony to AIME’s track record in delivering meaningful business,” he said.
Since the pandemic eased, two new shows have entered the fray in Asia Pacific. The Meetings Show Asia Pacific, Northstar’s local iteration of its London show – had its first show last year, while RX has attempted to bring IBTM Asia Pacific to market several times since 2020, but has so far been unsuccessful, with an inaugural 2025 event, scheduled for March, quietly cancelled in September. To micenet’s knowledge there has been no indication on whether RX intends to try again in APAC.
In 2025, AIME has 200 new exhibitors while around 75 per cent of hosted buyers are attending AIME for the first time.
Of the hosted buyers, 170 are international, travelling to Australia to attend AIME from New Zealand, Europe, the UK, Southeast Asia, North Asia, India, South America, the USA and Canada, with the majority of international buyers coming from Asia.
Today’s Knowledge Program, which preceded the opening of the show floor tomorrow has also grown considerably during Talk2 Media’s time at the helm, growing from around 300 in 2019 to around 1,500 registered for today’s program.
On the exhibitor front, while there appears to be a slight decrease in the number of countries represented on the show floor this year, exhibitor zones introduced last year – the DMC zone and the boutique venues and experiences zone have grown significantly.
“This year we’ll welcome…more than 30 exhibitors of unique venues and bespoke experiences into the bespoke zone,” said Pearce.
“We’ve got 250 per cent more exhibitors in our DMC zone this year. So again, it’s growth… our tech zone is growing, [the] hotel zone is growing, but these new areas are the ones where we’re reflecting an industry.”
The show is also bringing global industry associations and players to Melbourne in a way that it hasn’t for some time – UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry will host its regional APAC conference in Melbourne for the first time on Thursday and Friday this week, while the international convention centre association, AIPC, will host an inaugural event to coincide with AIME on Wednesday.
And at the Knowledge Program today, the likes of the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), PCMA, the International Association of Professional Conference Organisers (IAPCO) and the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) were all part of the program. Local associations were also involved, including Meetings and Events Australia (MEA), the Australian Business Events Association (ABEA) and the Australasian Society of Association Executives (AuSAE).
