Questex

NEW YORK – The 17th annual HSMAI's MEET West event, presented by Questex Hospitality + Travel, came to a successful close last week in San Diego after hosting nearly 900 meetings between leading hospitality industry meeting planners and suppliers.

Questex, which manages the MEET series of events under a strategic agreement with Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI), also announced that the next HSMAI's MEET West event will be held May 5-6, 2015, at the upscale Hyatt Regency Orange County in California.

The 2014 event, held June 16-17 at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront in California, brought meeting planners together with suppliers representing hotels, resorts and meeting venues, convention and visitors bureaus and technology, event services and promotional and marketing products vendors.

Marilyn McHugh, Questex Hospitality + Travel vice president, global events, said next year's HSMAI's MEET West will expand "beyond a traditional trade show" by introducing a new format based on intimate, one-to-one appointments, similar to Questex's Global Meeting & Incentive Travel Exchanges (GMITE) events, which cater exclusively to the MICE market.

"We are collaborating with HSMAI to build upon the proven popularity of the MEET series of conferences by introducing an enhanced one-to-one meeting format," she said. "We will leverage our expertise in putting buyers and sellers together – face-to-face – in an engaging, fun and effective format that stimulates deal-making."

McHugh added that the MEET and GMITE events also offer top-of-the-line training and development opportunities for meeting and event-planning professionals.

"The HSMAI MEET shows in 2014 offer new ways to do business, high-quality education and more face-to-face appointments," said Fran Brassuex, HSMAI executive vice president. "Looking ahead, the evolving format of the shows will add value to both our exhibitors and our show attendees. We are excited to be working closely with Questex, tapping in to their experience hosting MICE events, and look forward to introducing new locations in 2015."

The 25th annual HSMAI's MEET National event, to be held Sept. 3-4 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, is expected to attract more than 1,250 attendees. HSMAI's MEET MidAmerica event will head to Texas, a first for the event, to be held Feb. 3-4, 2015, at the Dallas Fairmont West.

HSMAI's MEET (Meetings, Events, Education, & Technology) expos are trade shows designed for hospitality sales and marketing professionals to present their properties, destinations and services to the industry's leading planners and decision-makers. For more information about HSMAI's MEET series of events, visit MEETConference.com.

GMITE events, owned and managed by Questex Media Group LLC, are composed of invitation-only, appointment-based events catering exclusively to the MICE market. For more information, visit GlobalTravelExchanges.com

For exhibitor inquiries and sponsorship opportunities, contact Victoria Farrell, Questex Travel Group regional account representative, at 212-895-8268 or [email protected].

Evy Apostolatos
RDR PR LLC
973-452-7208
Questex