More than 375 media ad travel PR representatives convened on Friday 23 February for the second year running at the International Convention Centre (ICC) Sydney for TravMedia Australia's sixth International Media Marketplace (IMM). 

IMM Australia connected 170 local media with 152 travel brands encompassing 206 PR representatives of international travel and tourism product ranging from hotels, airlines, destinations and tour operators. Collectively they participated in 3,344 pre-scheduled, one-on-one appointments – as well as a dedicated USA themed Media Breakfast presented by Visit USA.

Highlights of the day included the media lounge proudly presented by Gwinganna Lifestyle Retreat, inviting media and exhibitors to push pause on a busy day and disconnect for a moment of relaxation. Tourism NT invited media and industry to jump feet first into croc territory with an interative game and during the afternoon netowrking session delegates were entertained by Hong Kong Tourism with an impressive display from a dragon dance procession to celebrate Year of the Dog. The day concluded with an exclusive cocktail reception at the new Sofitel Darling Harbour in Darling Harbour, with an impressive array of cuisine including seafood, champagne bar and a chocolate fountain. 

Nick Wayland, CEO and Founder of TravMedia said: “The success of IMM Australia 2018 would not have been possible without the support of our Headline Sponsor, Brand USA; Event Sponsors, AccorHotels, United Airlines and Hong Kong Tourism Board; and Hotel Partners, Mantra Group, TFE, The Lancemore Group, QT Sydney, Pan Pacific Hotels Group and Hyatt Regency Sydney.”   

Media in attendance included top national travel editors and freelancers from outlets including: Fairfax Media, Traveller, News Corp, Escape, NZ Herald, The Australian, Australian Traveller, International Traveller, Australian Gourmet Traveller, Luxury Travel magazine, Marie Claire, Australian Women’s Weekly, Higher View Inflight Magazine, Vacations & Travel, Signature Luxury Travel & Style, Holidays with Kids, get lost magazine, Bound Round, Jetstar Magazine, Voyeur, Qantas Magazine, SilverKris, Sky Business, AFR Magazine, Financial Review Life & Leisure, Flight Centre, Senior Traveller, The Senior Newspaper, Robb Report + more.

"This was my first time at IMM and I found it enormously helpful. Within the week I'd used information from various contacts across a number of stories and the rest is great to have on file for future ideas."Alexandra Carlton, Features Editor – Marie Claire

Trade publications included: Travel Today, Travel Weekly, Travel Weekly Asia, micenet, BT Publishing, CIM Magazine, Spice, Hotel Management, The Holiday and Travel Magazine, Cruise Advice and Cruise Critic. 

Participating Exhibitors at IMM Australia 2018

US and Canada: 
Arizona Office of Tourism, Brand USA, Best Western Premier Grand Canyon Squire Inn, Broadway.com, Central Park Sightseeing, Choose Chicago, Cruise America RV Rentals, Dallas CVB and Fort Worth CVB, Destination Las Vegas Group, Discover Los Angeles and LAX Airport, Discover New England, Disney Parks & Resorts, Flagstaff Convention & Visitors Bureau, Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau, Handlery Hotels, Hawaii Tourism Oceania, Idaho Tourism, Incredible Adventures,  Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority, Machine Guns Vegas, Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau, New York State Division of Tourism,  NYC & Company, On Location Tours, Oregon's Mt. Hood Territory, Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau, San Francisco Travel Association, sbe / Morgans Hotel Group, Simon Shopping Destinations, Santa Monica Tourism, Sonoma County Tourism, Texas Tourism, Tours Limited, Travel Nevada, Travel Portland, Utah Office of Tourism, Visit Anaheim, Visit Anchorage, Visit California, Visit Denver, Visit Florida, Visit Seattle, Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood, Destination Canada,  Destination British Columbia, The Garland, TourRadar, Travel Alberta, Travel Manitoba.

International Destinations: 
Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority, Austrian National Tourist Office, Destination Great Lake Taupo, Destination Queenstown, Enterprise Dunedin, Hong Kong Tourism Board, Macao Government Tourism Office, Monaco Government Tourist Bureau, Okinawa Tourism, Sultanate of Oman Tourism, Tourism New Zealand, Visit Flanders, VisitBritain, Wonderful Indonesia.

Domestic Destinations: 
Destination NSW, Destination Gold Coast, Destination Gympie Region, Fraser Coast Tourism, South Australian Tourism Commission, Tourism and Events Queensland, Tourism Noosa, Tourism Tasmania, Tourism Western Australia, Visit Sunshine Coast, Visit Victoria, VisitCanberra, Yarra Ranges Tourism. 

Airlines: 
Air Asia, American Airlines, Delta, Virgin Australia, Etihad Aviation Group, Hawaiian Airlines, Scoot, United Airlines.

Hotels: 
AccorHotels, Alba Wellness Retreat Hue, Best Western Hotels & Resorts, Crystalbrook Collection, Four Seasons Hotel Sydney, Great Wolf Lodge, Gwinganna Lifestyle Retreat, Heritage Hotels, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, InterContinental Hotels Group, Kingfisher Bay Resort Group, LUX Resorts, Next Story Group, NSW Crown Holiday Parks Trust, Mantra Group, Marco Polo Hotels, Pan Pacific Hotel Group, Preferred Hotels, Quest Apartments, Shangri-La Hotel, Sydney, Shinta Mani Hotels, Stayz.com, The Lancemore Group, The Murray, a Niccolo Hotel, The Ruby Collection,The Star Gold Coast, The Star Sydney, Touch of Spice, Trisara Reosrt Phuket, Uga Escapes Sri Lanka, Veriu Hotels & Suites, Virgin Limited Edition, YHA Australia.

Tour Operators & Retailers:
Aurora Expeditions, Chimu Adventures, Coral Expeditions, Expedia, G Adventures, InsideJapan Tours, Intrepid Group, Life’s An Adventure, Peregrine Adventures, Royal Caribbean, Tauck, Wendy Wu Tours, Rocky Mountaineer, Webjet, Wotif.com, South Sea Cruises, Viking Cruises.

Attractions & Associations: 
Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development, Australian Society of Travel Writers.Bali Zoo, BridgeClimb Sydney, Dreamworld & SkyPoint, National Museum of Australia, Opera Australia, RACT Destinations, The Truffle Festival - Canberra Region, Ultimate Winery Experiences Australia.

Due to the overwhelming success of this year's event, “TravMedia IMM Australia will return to Sydney in 2019. Based on the positive feedback we anticipate a terrific turnout again,” said Nick Wayland.  

TravMedia's IMM has become the leading travel industry event to meet the media. Upcoming 2017 International Media Marketplace events include IMM Germany in Berlin the day before ITB on 7 March; IMM UK in London on 13 March; IMM Brazil 2 April, IMM Asia in Singapore just prior to ITB Asia on 24 October; and IMM US on 25 January. 

For more information and to register for IMM 2018 events visit www.travmedia.com/imm or email immaus@travmedia.com.