INTERNET AND 'INSIDERBREAK' ON US, WHENYOU HOST A MEETINGIN BUDAPEST.Host your next meeting with InterContinental Budapest offering superb views over the River Danube and recently renovated meeting space, and you will receive complimentary internet access for all delegates. Plus, for an event with a truly authentic local flavour, we will upgrade one of your coffee breaks to a unique InterContinental 'Insider Break'.Do you live an InterContinental life?In over 170 locations across the globe including HONG KONG . LONDON . NEW YORK . PARISFor further information and bookings call +36 1 327 6366 or email budapest@ihg.comYOUR NEW, CLEAN, UPDATED RESOURCEThe essential sales and marketing tool for suppliers to the conference and meetings industryTo purchase your latest copy, contact the Conference team on 0208 971 8282SAVE TIME RESEARCHING. MAKE SALES AND GAIN THE COMPETITIVE EDGE.WHO'SWHOIN REST OF WORLDCONFERENCES2012Presented byCONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLDWHO'SWHO'SWHOWHOIN byPresented byWHO'SWHO'SWHOWHOIN USACONFERENCES2012CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD

ISSUE 66 / ConfErEnCE & MEEtIngS World / 65GIBTM Previewsays: "Business travellers don't want the detail of extras, they simply want to know everything they need is included as part of their stay". Tamim will use the show to launch the company's Business Bundle package to provide just that. There will also be an update from the Oman Tourism Ministry on the planned convention centre and airport in Muscat.RTE expects 50 pre-qualified hosted buyers from the Middle East this year and will welcome them at a reception hosted by The Emirates Palace. The GIBTM Networking Reception will be hosted by The Rocco Forte Hotel Abu Dhabi.The show runs for two and a half days this year, 26-28 March in Halls 1 and 2 of ADNEC. Above: AdnEC is the venue for gIBtM 2012Gulf in expectationAS rEEd trAvEl ExhIBItIonS gEArS Up gIBtM for ItS SIxth YEAr In ABU dhABI nAtIonAl ExhIBItIon CEntrE, thErE ArE SoME BIg dEvElopMEntS on thE rEgIonAl MICE MArkEts Abu Dhabi prepares to host the 2012 Gulf Incentive, Business Travel and Meetings Exhibition (GIBTM) at its Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), the Emirate reports 215,00 business visitors come annually to the Emirates for MICE activities.Economic winds in the Gulf are generally warmer than in most parts of the globe; the UAE witnessed a five per cent increase in air traffic last year and Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority expects 20,000 more visitors when the 2011 figures are in. Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority also says 1.3m of the 1.8m guests arriving at the Emirates' 115 hotels and apartments are business travellers. GIBTM organiser Reed Travel Exhibitions tightens the focus this year on the business travel element of the show, with an agreement with the Association of Corporate Travel Executives to provide seminars.Lois Hall, RTE Manager, GIBTM, says: "The regional business and corporate travel community has been expanding steadily, which is why we are making business travel a key focus at GIBTM 2012. The exhibition is the largest gathering of meetings professionals in the Middle East, attended last year by 2,750 visitors." The acid test will be if the show can grow to fully embrace the previously missing Gulf states, however. There are certainly big ambitions in the region: "In 2015, we aim to become the number one meetings destination in the region, host four times the number of current MICE events and double the number of MICE visitor arrivals and yield," said Gillian Taylor, ADTA Business Tourism Manager. One eye-catching development in the region is the Qatar National Convention Centre, which officially opened at the end of 2011 within the Qatar Foundation's Education City. "We are proud to be a world-class venue conceived to bring together the world's best minds under one roof," said GM Adam Mather-Brown. QNCC features a 4,000-seat conference hall. It also houses 40,000sqm of exhibition space, adaptable to seat 10,000 for a conference or banquet. Qatar hosted 250 meetings and events in 2010, and forecasts a 10 per cent increase for the 2011 figure. Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) chairman Ahmed Abdullah Alnuaimi said: "Five years ago we had 2,500 rooms, now there are 13,000. We need to build 80,000 to accommodate visitors coming by 2022." Another exhibitor is Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, which brings to the show its research finding that high-speed internet, breakfast, late checkout and laundry pressing are the four most requested services by corporate travellers. VP Sales and Marketing, Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, Middle East, Toufic Tamim, WordS paul colstonAThe regional business and corporate travel community has been expanding steadilylois hall, rte manager, giBtm