MPI celebrates Gulf Conference

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Macmillan: would have liked to see more regional buyers at the event.

The inaugural Gulf Meetings and Events Conference exceeded the expectations of organiser Meeting Professionals International (MPI) according to the company's president Bruce Macmillan.

Initial results recorded some 175 attendees from 19 different countries, including a robust delegation of high-profile buyers from the US.

"Those are the numbers that everyone wants to know and I think that we exceed our expectations in that regard," said Macmillan.

"But where I think we really exceeded our expectations was in the quality of the dialogue and the breadth of the cultures participating and perspectives that are represented here."

Macmillan claimed that the mixture of buyers and suppliers at the event was around 50/50: "Rather than look at the numbers I think you have to look at the buying power," he said.

"We have technology companies, financial services companies, biotech companies; it is a rich and varied profile of corporate buyers."

There was however a conspicuous lack of regional corporate buyers from within the Gulf at the show.

"I think we would have liked to have more corporate buyers from the Gulf but this is our first foray into the region," said Macmillan.

"The industry itself in the region is fairly new and the people that didn't come will probably talk to those that did and they in turn will probably tell them that it was a good experience."

MPI membership in the region is less than 50, but MacMillan expected this to increase following the exposure the show afforded the group in the region.

The conference comprised a series of educational programmes and several networking events giving Gulf-based attendees the opportunity to meet with international buyers from the US and Asia.

"Clearly the robust meeting and event industry is a part of the vision of growth in the Middle East; everybody is building venues and they clearly see the UAE as a gathering place for the Middle East," MacMillan explained.

"One of the challenges here in the region is getting and retaining great people and raising the standards of service and that is core to what we do; knowledge and certification. Those are the key objectives and I think we succeeded."

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