The Meetings Show, as part of the Centaur Media Travel & Meetings business, has entered into a definitive agreement for acquisition by Northstar Travel Group.
The agreement follows the decision by Centaur Media in October 2018 to explore sales of several of its businesses in order to simplify the group’s structure and to focus management resources on its marketing brands.
Northstar Travel Group is the world’s leading information and marketing services company serving the corporate travel industry with the BTN Group including Business Travel News, Travel Procurement and The Beat; the global meetings and incentive industry with Northstar Meetings Group including Successful Meetings, Meetings & Convention, Meetings News, and Incentive; and the travel technology industry through Phocuswright, the leading business intelligence, market research and event business serving on-line travel distribution and travel technology solutions.
David Chapple, group event director, said: “The acquisition of the Travel & Meetings business by Northstar is very exciting for all of the teams working across The Meetings Show, The Business Travel Show and Travel Technology Europe. Northstar’s portfolio, spanning corporate travel, travel technology and the global meetings and incentive industry, dovetails perfectly with our own and they have been our preferred choice from the outset.
“For all of our events, it is business as usual – the teams working on the shows, with their extensive knowledge of the sector, will be remaining exactly the same; our exhibitors and hosted buyers will have the same points of contact and we will be continuing to provide vital platforms for the meetings, events and travel industries to converge. Our next chapter, as part of the Northstar Travel Group, will open doors for us and lead to an even stronger future.”
Thomas Kemp, chairman and CEO of Northstar Travel Group, said: “The addition of Centaur’s Travel & Meetings exhibitions to our global portfolio of 80 events in 13 countries fits perfectly with our strategy to expand our event segment with the UK’s leading portfolio of travel shows. The acquisition also provides Northstar with a platform in London to expand our portfolio of travel information and marketing services properties in the UK and Europe and we are excited to add David Chapple and his team of travel event professionals to the Northstar team.”
The Meetings Show 2019 will take place on Wednesday 26 and Thursday 27 June at Olympia London, with more than 4,500 meeting and event professionals expected to attend. Following a change in format in 2018, the show is forecasting its strongest year to date.
Commercial director Ross Barker said: “The Meetings Show is in an incredibly strong position right now. Our 2018 show really delivered for both exhibitors and buyers – evidenced by the 39% of exhibitors who rebooked on site and our highest ever number of pre-scheduled appointments, at more than 10,800.
“Exhibitors are demonstrating how important The Meetings Show is to them with 14% increasing their stand space, including the likes of Marriott, Singapore, Korea, Portugal, VisitScotland and Marketing Manchester. We also have more than 40 new exhibitors already for 2019, such as Marriott Enterprise Brands, Radisson Hotels, Peru, Barbados, the Czech Republic, Lime Venue Portfolio, Tottenham Hotspur and Meet in Nottingham, with more in the pipeline. Stand sales are 18% ahead year-on-year and 2019 is shaping up to be an unmissable event.”
For more information about The Meetings Show, visit www.themeetingsshow.com.
Author: Adam Parry
Adam is the co-founder and editor of www.eventindustrynews.com Adam, a technology evangelist also organises Event Tech Live, Europe’s only show dedicated to event technology and the Event Technology Awards. Both events take place in November, London.
