But, away from the major names, ancillary companies from apartment bookers to limousine hire and air charter all reported good business, with First Class Cars, for instance, converting contact to business overnight.
"I've run out of cards and brochures; it was all a bit of surprise," said director Graham Coate. "I just met with the PA for the CEO of a blue-chip company who was going to Expedia for bookings, but now she has my contact, while another corporate visitor on Monday called the next morning with four bookings."
Better Homes too reported brisk business, according to marketing manager, Sumeet Khurana: "The industry wants the show to succeed and is willing to work with us to make sure that happens," she said.
"We met with international as well as UAE contacts and expect good results for our short-term lets."
And, while the stress balls and post-it giveaways might have been of more use to the exhibitors, Maltby emphasised that bookings were already rolling in for the 2009 event, suggesting even disappointed stand-holders were keeping faith with the concept.
| Advertisement |
"We were up 30% in size this year, and already for 2009, before the show even closed, we had reservations from Alshamel Travel, Virgin Atlantic, BCD Travel, First Class Cars, IHG, HTT, Travelport, Qatar Airways, Better Homes, HRS, Oxygen4Aviation, Apartment Stay, SNTTA and Jumeirah - while [British carrier] bmi was a new signing," she said.
"The industry wants the show to succeed and is willing to work with us to make sure that happens."
For their part, organiser Centaur is committing resource to the region, with Maltby now based in Dubai for three week a month.
She said following the evaluation of statistics for this year's show, new considerations might be for a hosted buyer programme, a beefed up marketing and PR programme as well as a new timings.
Talking points
Tweaks might also be in the pipeline for the educational content at BTS Dubai, with more free sessions or a corporate package covering multiple sessions, according to Monique Swart, regional director for the Association of Corporate Travel Executive (ACTE), which organised the conference content.
"There was participation of nearly 100 or more at the keynote addresses by Jumeirah's Imran Changezi and HRG's David Radcliffe, but the audience for topics such as safety and security didn't make double figures," she said.
"A consideration for the future is the international/local mix - people here want examples from organisations they know rather than importing global SOPs for instance - and I want to get in those that lead by example as well as the global conglomerates."
Swart acknowledged that price had been a barrier with entrance fees of AED 300 per session at the door, although overall numbers had been up on last year.
"People were more aware of the conference side and the speakers were great. We just have to acknowledge that the education process takes time, particularly introducing new concepts," she said.
Search our database of more than 2,700 industry companies
