5 Key Event Trends We Spotted at IMEX America 2024

By Sarah Kloepple October 17, 2024

Transformation is certainly afoot in the event industry. That sentiment was clear at IMEX America 2024, where topics like AI, sustainability, inclusivity, wellness, and incentive travel dominated. The 13th edition of the show, held Oct. 8-10 in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, once again broke its attendance record, welcoming more than 15,500 attendees and hosting over 86,000 prescheduled meetings in three days.

"The sheer number of attendees and meetings at IMEX America [last] week is further evidence of how our sector continues to prosper and power ahead,” said IMEX Group CEO Carina Bauer.

IMEX also reported that more than 1,600 people attended learning sessions held at the show floor’s Inspiration Hub, where the #Eventprofs Unplugged format once again proved popular, with standing room only at several of the informal, chat show-style panels.

BizBash was on the ground in Las Vegas at the event, chatting with attendees, attending educational sessions, and conducting interviews. Here are the biggest (and some newer) trends we observed throughout the week.

1. Capitalizing on sports events and venues

A buzzy first-time exhibitor at IMEX this year? Major League Baseball. The league brought a "strategic cohort" of eight MLB teams—Arizona, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.—to the show in a presence that featured a VR activation and press conference. The goal was to better promote these teams' home ballparks as prime spaces for meetings and other non-baseball events. During the press conference, representatives from the teams revealed that they're seeing planners use their ballparks for VIP dinners, sales kickoffs, private concerts, and holiday events.

The physical activation, meanwhile, marked the first MLB activation at IMEX and featured a VR hitting experience just outside the trade show entrance. The MLB teams in attendance also partnered with their respective DMOs/CVBs at their booths to take appointments.

Elsewhere at the show, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority teamed up with reps from the UFC and Las Vegas Raiders for an education session on sports infrastructure and its impact on business events. LVCVA President and CEO Steve Hill sat on a panel with UFC Senior Executive Vice President and COO Lawrence Epstein and Las Vegas Raiders President Sandra Douglass Morgan.

Hill cited the UFC, Allegiant Stadium, and Formula 1 as major contributors to Las Vegas' sports growth—and even said November 2023 was the second-best month in history for Las Vegas in terms of Clark County gaming revenue.

"In business events, there's a creativity that has grown because of what's happening here in sports," Hill told us after he took the stage. "There's also a set of offerings from a venue standpoint that's growing. A lot of the shows that come to town now utilize Allegiant Stadium, for example. You've got places where you can have a meeting with 20 people or 60,000 people, and that's not something that we really had before, so it just broadens that portfolio."

2. Engaging better with Gen Z

According to SITE and MPI, planners should pay special attention to a growing demographic of attendees: Gen Z. They're an especially important cohort to consider when planning incentive programs, the two organizations said during an education session on experience design. After all, it's estimated that Gen Z will make up 30% of the workforce by 2030, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

When it comes to incentive programs, nonnegotiables for Gen Z attendees include immersive experiences, personalization, and authenticity, according to the SITE/MPI panel, which included Meetings & Incentives Worldwide senior manager Ashley Krueger, Moloney & Kelly DMC director of sales Caoimhe Rice, and Destination Canada client engagement manager Jeffrey Fehr. They emphasized the importance of designing incentives with these priorities in mind.

"They want to brag to their friends that their companies are taking them to these amazing places," Krueger said during the session. "That's free marketing and recruiting for the company."

Gen Z-specific design tips they mentioned include: letting them curate some of their own experiences with customizable itineraries, incorporating local culture, offering flexible accommodations (not just a standard hotel) and more options for smaller groups, using event apps, participating in CSR programs, and allowing for plenty of free time. "They aren't afraid to let people know when they're unhappy," Rice warned.

Fehr's simple piece of advice: In the early stages of planning, ask your Gen Z colleagues what they want out of an incentive trip.

3. Incorporating authentic cultural experiences

This isn't a trend exclusive to Gen Z. It's evident that all attendees appreciate when a program or show includes authentic cultural experiences—just look at the trade show floor this year at IMEX. From Ireland to Morocco, destination booths were chock-full of nods to their respective cultures and unique experiences. Some of our favorites included traditional tea preparation at the Moroccan National Tourism Office booth; digital versions of famous artworks found in Washington, D.C., at the Destination DC booth; and tequila tastings with Jorge Cuervo at the Los Cabos Tourism Board booth. Jorge, a descendant of Jose Cuervo, operates a tequila-tasting experience in Los Cabos, Mexico, for groups.

"A lot of attendees are looking for authenticity," said Los Cabos Tourism Board managing director Rodrigo Esponda. "Food plays a critical role. They want to have local ingredients, dishes, recipes, and products. Specifically here, for example, they love learning about the fish that's endemic in the region that you can't find anywhere else."

4. Working with a destination's surrounding community

It seems more private-public partnerships are on the rise when it comes to boosting a destination's meetings outlook. Los Angeles Tourism is a prime example: The DMO is currently working with the City of Los Angeles' chief tourism officer, Doane Liu. In this role, Liu convenes the tourism cabinet before every major event in LA and also discusses what can be done to improve the visitor experience.

"What that means is, when we have a major citywide coming up—for example, we just hosted IPW—you've got public safety, sanitation, LAPD all working arm-in-arm," says LA Tourism President and CEO Adam Burke. "It's a complete civic approach to how we host these events, and it's really made a dramatic difference."

Burke also cites working with LA's business improvement districts (BIDs) as vital to improving the visitor experience. Through an ambassador program, LA Tourism supplements the staffing of BIDs, so that when visitors approach these ambassadors, they can be directed to other parts of Los Angeles.

"We see a lot of pre- and post-stays for leisure," Burke says. "But a visitor might be staying downtown and say, 'I've heard a lot about Olvera Street, and I know LA has a huge Hispanic culture,' and if they're talking to an ambassador from the BID, they can say, 'Olvera Street's just five minutes away. By the way, did you know that half a block down is LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, which is the biggest institution dedicated to Hispanic and Latin heritage in LA?'"

Burke adds, "Partnering with the BIDs has been amazing because obviously it gives visitors a comfort around safety and security, seeing those more uniform ambassadors. But they're also great for wayfinding and visitor information."

5. Taking sustainability seriously

The industry's desire to implement sustainable practices isn't going away. If anything, IMEX America 2024 proved the show and its partners are taking it more seriously—after all, 78% of global event planners say their organizations are planning to set net-zero goals by the end of 2024, according to the Amex GBT 2024 Global Meetings and Events Forecast.
Badges at this year's show featured no plastic and were instead made from recyclable material. IMEX also displayed its sustainability goals on the trade show floor in the Innovation Hub, where a majority of the education took place. IMEX even released a sustainability report for its 2023 show, right before 2024 kicked off. The report revealed that in 2023, for the fifth time in a row, IMEX America was classified as a zero-waste event (93% of event waste was diverted from a landfill into compost, material recycling, and donation channels?). The report also said that around 90% of all signage and banners was saved to use again over the next three-plus years. ?

IMEX exhibitors are taking heed as well. Destination Canada brought its Sustainability Stories display to this year's IMEX America. The display highlights various sustainability initiatives used by destinations around Canada—from St. John's to Winnipeg to Banff—with the goal of inspiring and challenging attendees when it comes to sustainable event practices.

Source: Bizbash.com