AIME 2026: Where Expertise Takes Centre Stage in Melbourne
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14th Nov, 2025
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Returning to Melbourne 9–11 February 2026, the Asia Pacific Incentives and Meetings Event (AIME) will expand its footprint and deepen its focus on expertise, connection and collaboration, setting a confident tone for the global business events year ahead.
The Asia Pacific Incentives and Meetings Event (AIME) will return to the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) in February 2026 with its most expansive and insight-rich edition yet delivered by Event Director Silke Calder and her team at Talk2 Media & Events.
AIME is the flagship trade event for the region, a place where business outcomes, professional growth and global collaboration intersect. AIME 2026 will celebrate the people and ideas shaping the future of meetings, incentives and events across Asia Pacific and beyond.
The show will feature more than 700 exhibitors, 700 hosted buyers and over 4,500 attendees, supported by a record 20,000 pre-scheduled appointments across an expanded footprint at MCEC. Calder says exhibitor demand has already set a strong tone for next year.
“AIME 2025 was an incredible success, and we are confident 2026 will raise the bar even higher. With more than 90% of the showfloor already sold or reserved, the response from exhibitors reflects the essential role AIME plays in driving business outcomes across our region. It is where ideas are exchanged, partnerships are forged, and real commercial results are achieved.”
Applications are now open for both international and domestic participants in the AIME Hosted Buyer Program, which remains one of the most sophisticated and productive of its kind globally. Designed to foster meaningful connections, the three-day experience includes a curated schedule of high-value meetings, access to the Hosted Buyer Lounge, flexible free-flow networking, and exclusive invitations to social events including AIME’s renowned Welcome Event.
The Hosted Buyer Program is supported by advanced business-matching technology that connects buyers with exhibitors best suited to their needs, from leading destinations and convention centres to boutique venues, caterers, AV providers and experience designers. Calder says the approach ensures every meeting delivers measurable value.
“Our Hosted Buyer Program has become a benchmark for how business matching should work, efficient, personalised and outcomes-driven,” she says. “It’s a program designed to help our buyers and exhibitors achieve genuine, long-term success.”
Beyond the show floor, AIME continues to invest in professional learning and leadership development through Knowledge Monday, which opens the event on 9 February. Curated in conjunction with BEAMexperience Founder El Kwang, this year’s program explores what it means to be an expert in a fast-evolving global industry.
Three keynote speakers will lead the conversation under the theme “Expertise Matters!”: Dan Haesler, leadership coach to elite organisations; Milo Wilkinson, behavioural scientist and futurist; and Kristina Karlsson, founder of kikki.K and Dream Life, who will share insights into resilience, decision-making, and purposeful leadership.
“Our keynote speakers each bring a unique lens on what true expertise means today, it is about lived experience, self-awareness and the ability to apply knowledge with purpose,” Calder says. “Knowledge Monday continues to be the heart of AIME’s learning experience, inspiring our community to connect, collaborate and lead with confidence.”
With new experiential showcases, cutting-edge technology and more space, AIME 2026 will reinforce its reputation as the premier marketplace for the global meetings and events sector.
For Calder and her team, the message is clear: expertise and human connection remain at the core of a resilient industry.
“At AIME, our mission is to provide a platform that reflects the credibility and confidence of our industry, bringing together the best minds, the most innovative ideas, and the leaders who are redefining what is possible,” she says.
As the global MICE community looks toward Melbourne next February, AIME 2026 stands poised to set the tone for a year of renewed collaboration, innovation and professional growth, proving that in business events, expertise truly matters.
For more info: aime.com.au
Learn more about the keynote speakers shaping Knowledge Monday at AIME 2026.
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