Ecuador hosts meetings market fair
By Nelson Alcantara
QUITO, Ecuador (eTN) – About 90 incentive and meeting hosted buyers from 18 countries met here with 88 travel and tourism suppliers from 10 Latin America countries last Friday at this year's Meetings and Incentives Travel Market (MITM) edition.
According to MITM organizer GSAR, a total of 2,340 pre-scheduled meetings were made by the exhibitors with the attending buyers with a sales volume estimated at US$11 million in future sales.
"The buyers and sellers have been extremely pleased with the outcome of this edition of MITM," said Ben Hessler, GSAR marketing manager.
Event organizer GSAR Marketing has in seven years been spearheading Latin America as a destination for the MICE business. "We firmly believe that Latin America is as a destination for the MICE business," Hessler said. "That is why MITM Latin America was started seven years ago, well before any other exhibition give credit Latin America as a MICE destination."
Hessler also mentioned that Ecuador's Ministry of Tourism, in particular Quito Tourism, has been very supportive of GSAR's MITM undertaking.
With tourism being Ecuador's third biggest industry, the government is keen on hosting events such as the MITM, according to Paula Escobar, product coordinator for Quito Tourism.
According to Escobar, Quito has established a convention bureau to show it is taking the meetings market seriously.
The hosted buyers experienced that Quito and Ecuador is an incentive, meetings and event top destination, with the infrastructure, know-how and professionalism to prove it.
Attendees to this year's MITM in Quito were also treated to a variety of pre- and post-tours which the Convention Bureau of Quito helped arranged. They included tours to the Amazon, the Andes, Cotopaxi, Otavalo and the Galapagos Islands.
October 31, 2006
Posted in: Ecuador