AIME Hosted Buyer Program - Connect, Discover & Learn

Would you like to build your network, find new destinations, venues, activations, and event suppliers in one place? Get access to the latest trends and insights from inspirational speakers?

Then AIME – The Asia Pacific Incentives and Meetings Event – is the place for you! Taking place on the 9-11 February 2026 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, this inspirational event is designed to help you source new suppliers, learn and network. We have a range of attendee options for buyers, all designed to give you control of your AIME experience.

Hosted buyer applications will open for international buyers in late June, and domestic buyers in late July. You can submit an expression of interest in joining the hosted buyer program by filling in the form on this page. We will contact you with more details in June/July.

Complete this form to express your interest in becoming an AIME 2026 hosted buyer

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Hosted Buyers Meeting an Exhibitor at AIME

Using a seamless blend of human expertise and cutting-edge artificial intelligence we match our Hosted Buyers with the right partners from the 665+ exhibiting companies, 90% of whom are from the Asia Pacific region. Meetings take place in the exhibition and are managed through our state-of-the-art meetings technology. We fill the diaries of both exhibitor and hosted buyers, taking the pressure away from you to choose who to meet.

Meet exhibitors and live activations from:

Leading destinations	Event technology companies
Convention bureaux & tourism offices	Destination Management Companies
Convention centres	Travel and tour operators
Hotels and resorts	Production and AV suppliers
Boutique venues	Airlines
Attractions and activities	Cruise companies
Caterers	Support services for events

Held on day one of AIME, the Knowledge Program offers you the opportunity to learn with other hosted buyers and exhibitors attending AIME. The Knowledge Program features inspiring keynote speakers, networking events, and breakout sessions.

The Knowledge Program is curated by BEAMexperience with input and advice from the AIME Knowledge Program Advisory Committee, which is comprised of leading figures in the business events sector.

The AIME Ideas Academy presented by Spice Magazine is held on the show floor on the two days of the AIME trade exhibition. The sessions are designed to offer hands-on, practical advice to event professionals, giving them ideas and tips that they can use to enhance their events.

AIME Knowledge Program

AIME Welcome Event

AIME provides multiple opportunities to network and to grow your network.

The pre-AIME Uncover Melbourne famil run by the Melbourne Convention Bureau is attended by all International hosted buyers and is open to ANZ hosted buyers. This takes place on Sunday 8 February 2026.

All 650 hosted buyers and 665 exhibiting companies attend the legendary AIME Welcome Event taking place on the evening of Monday 9 Feburary 2026. An exciting night of great food, drink, entertainment, and a chance to meet friends new and old. The Welcome Event follows on from the Knowledge Program, which also includes opportunities to meet with hosted buyers and exhibitors.

Days 1 and 2 of the AIME trade exhibition is where the pre-scheduled meetings between hosted buyers and exhibitors take place. The exhibition takes place on Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 February. Hosted buyers have access to the Hosted Buyer Lounge, which allows them to take refreshments, relax and meet with other hosted buyers.

All hosted buyers get access to our state-of-the-art meetings technology, allowing you to connect with other buyers and exhibitors of interest to you. Using this technology around 20,000 meetings are expected to be held at AIME 2026.

	FULLY HOSTED BUYER	SEMI-HOSTED BUYER	DAY-BUYER
	32 Pre-Scheduled Appointments (PSAs)	20 Pre-Scheduled Appointments (PSAs)	10 Pre-Scheduled Appointments (PSAs)
	Like to maximise your time?	Prefer some flexibility?	Time poor?
	Fully hosted buyers commit to 32 x 15-minute PSAs with exhibitors.	Semi-hosted buyers commit to 20 x 15-minute PSAs with exhibitors.	Hosted day buyers commit to 10 x 15-minute PSAs with exhibitors on Wednesday, 11 February 2026.
Return economy flights to Melbourne from a major city location	x
Group coach transfers to/from Melbourne airport to your hotel	x
Two or three nights accommodation in a 4 or 5-star hotel in Melbourne (4 nights accommodation for international buyers)	x	x
Buffet breakfast each morning	x	x
Invitation to participate in the MCB Uncover Melbourne experience on Sunday 8 February 2026 – showcasing hidden gems and unique event experiences*	x	x	x
A ticket to the Knowledge Program on Monday 9 February 2026*	x	x	x
A ticket to The AIME Welcome Event on Monday 9 February 2026	x	x	x
Morning, afternoon tea and lunch on show days – Tuesday 11 & Wednesday 11 February 2026	x	x	x
Tickets to ‘Invite Only’ exclusive events	x	x
Access to the ‘Hosted Buyers Lounge’	x	x	x
An online meeting platform providing flexibility and control over your meetings	x	x	x
An open diary to schedule additional appointments with exhibitors	x	x	x
Access to the AIME Hosted Buyer Hub	x	x	x

*The Uncover Melbourne Experience and Knowledge Program are no longer mandatory events for Australian and New Zealand buyers.

Note: Hosted day buyers are welcome to attend the tradeshow on Tuesday 10 or Wednesday 11 February and meet as many exhibitors as you wish, however PSAs will be scheduled on Wednesday only.

Click here to view >>

Hosted Buyers (HBs) are:

Experienced and senior event planners with at least 5 years’ experience in the business events industry organising events.
Experienced planners who can come from different sectors of the business events industry including, associations, PCOs, event management agencies, corporate in-house event planners, incentive planners etc.
Event planners who research, organise, influence, contract and make budgetary decisions for business events.
Planning and/or booking business events on a weekly or monthly basis - at least on average 6+ per year with 50+ attendees.
Venue ‘finders’ or venue sourcing companies with a history sourcing venues for business events

Note: in addition planners from outside Australia must be:

Organising 6+ business events per year outside their home country with at least 50+ attendees at each event.
Some of the events must have been held in Australia in the past or there are definite plans to organise events in Australia as well as the Pacific or Asian destinations in the next two years.
Business event planners and not wedding planners, tour operators who are just organising tours for a business event, or travel agents organising group travel for a business event.
Relatively fluent in English - enough to correspond with the hosted buyer team and conduct meetings at the show without an interpreter.

Note: Business events are association or corporate conferences, corporate incentives, corporate events. We do not consider weddings, school groups, community / special interest networking groups etc. to fall under the umbrella of business events.

This initiative is designed to assist junior members of the industry who would not normally qualify for the Hosted Buyers Program because they had less than five years events industry experience. These junior buyers – called “Rockets” – shadowed their managers on their Pre-Scheduled Appointments (PSAs) with the AIME exhibitors.

The program will give valuable relationship introductions to suppliers and allow participants to learn from their manager on the job. The program also gives free access to the Knowledge Program, Ideas Academy, the legendary AIME Welcome Event and many more learning and networking opportunities. It also offers the “Rockets” access to the Hosted Buyers Lounge, where they can meet experienced event professionals.

We've collated the most frequently asked questions and put them into a handy guide for you with FAQs on:

General Information About AIME
Buyer Commitments
Hosted Buyer Benefits & Costs
Application Process
PSAs & Meeting Matching
Accommodation
Flights & Transfers
Exhibitors
Passport & Visas
Terms & Conditions (Ts & Cs)
Cancellation Policy
Contacts & More Information

Read hosted buyer FAQs

Australian Event Awards:

Best Exhibition or Trade Show Winners: 2024, 2023

Best Congress, Conference or Exhibition Winners: 2022

Australian Event of the Year: 2022

“On behalf of all the team at CBD Events, thank you for hosting us. We've really benefited from meeting the suppliers and have already been able to confirm work with new suppliers that we've met this week.”
Belinda Adderton
CBD Events
“Thanks again for another brilliant year at AIME 2024! So many new connections, the next 3 years of LESANZ Conference destinations scoped and what a brilliant Uncover Melbourne tour I was treated to.”
Beth Benson
LESANZ Secretariat
“I just wanted to send you a message to congratulate you and the whole AIME team for an absolutely sensational week! The stress, anxiety, hard work, blood, sweat and tears has absolutely paid off! You should all be incredibly proud of what you produced … all while remaining calm, welcoming and patient. As hosted buyers, my colleague Diana and I could not have felt more taken care of, spoilt and informed. From the moment we arrived, through to our goodbyes, we thoroughly enjoyed every last minute. Thank you so much for the attention to every single detail, and for a completely seamless attendance, full of warm hospitality.”
Danielle Ricato
Family Business Association
"Thank you so much for a wonderful 2024 AIME conference. It was an absolutely experience from the Uncover Melbourne program, great Knowledge Program, Welcome function and the two-day conference event allowing us to connect and meet with our key stake holders. Also thank you for looking after us so well with our accommodation requirements and the wonderful Hosted Buyers Lounge. Thank you for all your hard work, commitment and passion in bringing this all together for us to experience and enjoyed."
Dorina Martelli
Bankwest
“I just wanted to say a massive congratulations on such a successful AIME. It was honestly such a delight to connect with new and existing suppliers and have the opportunity to chat with them all in the one place. The social functions were phenomenal and ran like a well-oiled machine.”
Elissa Lulan
MCI Australia
“Thank you for an amazing show. AIME just gets better and better and you all do such a fabulous fabulous job.”
Gordy Bayne
Showponi
“Just wanted to say a huge thank you to you and your team for your efforts to host us at AIME this year. As you know we’ve been coming to AIME for many years as we’ve both been working in MICE since the 1990’s. We found the show so valuable, the best yet! To be honest, it well and truly superseded my expectations. The atmosphere was great, amazing selection of exhibitors and some very worthwhile discussions about mutually beneficial business moving forward.”
Jackie Coyne
S2N Events
“I’m writing to thank you and your team for a wonderful experience at AIME this week. Everything was so well organised and the product insight and networking opportunities the event provided to Hosted Buyers like me, were invaluable. After 51 appointments (!), I’ve come away with a wealth of new contacts, product ideas and destination resources, which I have already shared with our entire Events team, and I also appreciated the chance to further develop our existing relationships too. Looking forward to AIME 2025!”
Jackie Firmstone
ATPI
“A quick note to thank you for an incredible experience at AIME 2024. The team did a remarkable job, the best AIME to date. The general feedback from our team and the venues we spoke to is that AIME 2024 was engaging and energetic like never before. We have already sent multiple event briefs to various new venues simply because we met them at AIME. We look forward to hopefully attending AIME next year!”
Jake Dimarco
VenueNow
“Thank you for a seriously wonderful AIME. We are such a hard audience – There will always be something that we aren’t happy with but, you guys did an amazing job. I think that was my 14th or 15th AIME and to be honest it took me back to some of the early shows where everyone was really happy to be there. I loved every minute of it, I loved seeing new and really interesting product, it was great to catch up with suppliers I hadn’t seen since pre-covid but above all … it was so well staged. I loved it! All of it! Thank you so much for allowing me to be a buyer, thanks for giving me a few days that will take me a very long time to forget.”
Julie McGraw
GEMS Event Management Australia
“A short note to say congrats to you and your team on a fantastic AIME. This was the best AIME I've been in in 10 years. There was a fantastic buzz and great energy around the space especially when I only arrived late on day 2. normally things are starting to wind down but there still so many people and a great energy. Lots of buyers and exhibitors I spoke to said the same. There was also a much greater range of exhibitors.”
Nathan Kayser
Monash Business School
“Just wanted to say, thank you so much for giving Black Book the opportunity to attend AIME, I can honestly say it was one of the most beneficial trade shows for me – so many meaningful connections & of course fun along the way! I look forward to continuing our working relationship with all I met. I will spread the word across my peers back in the UK & of course will connect you with anyone else who may find it as beneficial as me next year.”
Colleen Gray
Blackbook UK

Join us at AIME 2026, Asia Pacific's largest and longest running event for the business events sector.

Find inspiration with over 700 exhibitors showcasing the latest venues, activations, technology and much more. We'll organise your meetings for you.
Network with over 650 domestic and international hosted buyers, share experiences and ideas with your peers - including our legendary Welcome Party!
Learn at the AIME Knowledge Program and the Ideas Academy presented by Spice Magazine
Choose your level of attendance - fully-hosted, semi-hosted or a day-buyer.

Hosted buyer applications will be open for international buyers in late June, and domestic buyers in late July. You can submit an expression of interest in joining the hosted buyer program by filling in the form at the top of this page. We will contact you with more details in June/July.

Hosted Buyer

Would you like to build your network, find new destinations, venues, activations, and event suppliers in one place? Get access to the latest trends and insights from inspirational speakers?

Complete this form to express your interest in becoming an AIME 2026 hosted buyer

Source New Suppliers

Learn and be inspired

Connect and grow your network

Hosted buyer attendee types and what's included

Hosted buyer criteria

Click here to view >>

Accelerate program for junior employees

Frequently asked questions

Trustworthy with a proven track record of success

Hosted buyer testimonials

Submit an EOI now!

Hosted Buyer

Would you like to build your network, find new destinations, venues, activations, and event suppliers in one place? Get access to the latest trends and insights from inspirational speakers?

Complete this form to express your interest in becoming an AIME 2026 hosted buyer

Source New Suppliers

Learn and be inspired

Connect and grow your network

Hosted buyer attendee types and what's included

Hosted buyer criteria

Click here to view >>

Accelerate program for junior employees

Frequently asked questions

Trustworthy with a proven track record of success

Hosted buyer testimonials

Submit an EOI now!

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