NEW YORK (July 28, 2014) ─ Questex Hospitality + Travel today announced that next year's HSMAI's MEET MidAmerica and MEET West events will expand beyond the traditional trade show by introducing intimate, one-to-one appointments and fully hosted buyers.

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 MidAmerica event will head to Texas, a first for the event, Feb. 3-4, 2015, at The Fairmont Dallas hotel. HSMAI's MEET West event will be held May 5-6, 2015, at the Hyatt Regency Orange County in California.

Marilyn McHugh, Questex Hospitality + Travel vice president, global events, said the enhanced format is similar to Questex's Global Meeting & Incentive Travel Exchanges (GMITE) events, which cater exclusively to the MICE market and have proven success by offering one-to-one meetings and top-of-the-line training and networking opportunities for meeting and event-planning professionals.

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

The 25th annual HSMAI's MEET National event, to be held Sept. 3-4, 2014, at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, is expected to attract more than 1,200 attendees.

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

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.

For exhibitor inquiries and sponsorship opportunities, contact Danielle Cirami-Gillis, Questex Hospitality + Travel Group global director of events, at (212) 895-8278 or [email protected].

About Questex Hospitality + Travel

Questex Hospitality + Travel, the largest multimedia organization in the world dedicated to travel and lodging, drives revenue, productivity and value-creation for these related industries through strategic investment and deal-making forums, powerful lead-generation tools, interactive online business solutions, world-class events and industry-leading publications.

Questex Travel Group, a division of Questex Hospitality + Travel, serves travel marketers globally through its TravelAgentCentral.com, LuxuryTravelAdvisor.com, TravelAgentUniversity and International Meetings Review online portals. It operates the leading luxury travel booking site, FiveStarAlliance.com, publishes Travel Agent and Luxury Travel Advisor magazines and produces leisure events: Luxury Travel Exchange International, ULTRA Luxury Summit, Young Travel Leaders Conference and Hawaii Travel Exchange and MICE events: Global Meeting & Incentive Travel Exchanges and CONFEC conferences.

Questex Hospitality + Travel also provides business development, marketing and training services to national tourism organizations/destination marketing associations, hotel, gaming, resort and cruise companies, online travel agencies and travel advisors worldwide. Questex Hospitality + Travel is a division of Questex Media Group LLC, headquartered in Newton, Mass., with offices throughout the world.

About HSMAI

The Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) is committed to growing business for hotels and their partners and is the industry's leading advocate for intelligent, sustainable hotel revenue growth. The association provides hotel professionals and their partners with tools, insights and expertise to fuel sales, inspire marketing and optimize revenue through programs such as HSMAI's MEET, Adrian Awards and Revenue Optimization Conference. HSMAI is an individual membership organization comprising more than 7,000 members worldwide with 40 chapters in the Americas Region. Connect with HSMAI at www.hsmai.org, www.facebook.com/hsmai, www.twitter.com/hsmai and www.youtube.com/hsmai1.

Evy Apostolatos
RDR PR LLC
973-452-7208
Questex

Related