Buying a lottery ticket doesn't always guarantee a piece of the pie, but with a potential AU$250 million worth of business up for grabs at AIME (Asia-Pacific Incentives & Meetings Expo) 2014 it's likely that the odds of striking it lucky in Australia are better than average.

AIME, currently the largest business exhibition of its kind in Australia, will host more than 3,500 delegates responsible for organising, meetings, incentives and business travel at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on 18 and 19 February 2014.

Karen Bolinger, Chief Executive Officer of the Melbourne Convention Bureau, which owns AIME, said that approximately a quarter of a billion dollars ($AU) worth of business was placed at last year's event. 

“This figure is testament to the fact that AIME is an invaluable opportunity for delegates and exhibitors spanning the globe to come together and efficiently conduct business in the space of two days,” Ms Bolinger said.

“With the majority of the floor space already booked by exhibitors, it's likely that the event will reach full capacity, and I wouldn't be surprised if the value of business placed exceeds the amount achieved in 2013.”

In total, the two-day event will see 750 exhibitors from 30 countries meet with more than 3,500 business events, meeting and incentive planners, and exhibition organisers. New exhibitors for 2014 include industry heavyweights Shangri-La and Haycom, alongside international destination marketing organisations such as Brand USA.

Jacqui Timmins, Exhibition Director at AIME and CIBTM (China Incentives, Business Travel and Meetings Expo), said that the feedback received in 2013 was outstanding.

“In 2013, 93% of surveyed Hosted Buyers who attended AIME reported establishing long term business partnerships, with a range of networking events enabling working relationships to be formed,” she said.

As well as offering business development opportunities, the show, now in its 22nd year, will provide informative education sessions via the AIME Knowledge program with world-class speakers such as Dr Adam Fraser and Todd Sampson participating in a varied and inspiring program covering creativity, mindfulness, interpersonal relations, innovation and event trends.

Find out more about AIME 2014 at www.aime.com.au.

About AIME
The Asia-Pacific Incentives & Meetings Expo (AIME) is owned by the Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB), a business development organisation, with its core function to secure international and national conferences, incentive travel reward programs and other business events for the Australian state of Victoria. AIME brings associations and event planners from around the world to Melbourne annually for a two-day networking event where the best meetings and incentives destinations and products are showcased to the industry.

The show is managed by Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE), the world's leading provider of exhibitions in the travel and tourism industry, with a wide-ranging portfolio of 20 international events in 13 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa. Its market-leading, business-to-business events cover all elements of travel and tourism, including leisure travel, luxury travel, meetings, events, incentives and business travel, as well as golf, ski and spa travel. RTE is part of Reed Exhibitions.