VisitScotland Expo Case Study
VisitScotland Expo is Scotland's flagship business to business event for the travel trade.
We've packed the VisitScotland Expo website full of innovative features to make sure both exhibitors and visitors get the most out of the important pre-season preparation.
VisitScotland Expo invites trade missions from around the world to discover and meet representatives from Scotland's tourism industry including attractions, tours, accommodation and destinations.
Interactive Stand Booking
Inspired by the way we book seats at the theatre, we developed the ability for exhibitors to book stands by clicking on the floor plan.
This allows them to see the location of the stand at the Expo, as well as who their neighbours will be if those stands are already sold.
The website displays a countdown until stand booking goes live, after which exhibitors can choose their stand, first come first served.
Before our innovative stand booking feature went live, VisitScotland Expo phones rang off the hook as staff tried to manage demand and keep track of which stands were still available.
Now, the team celebrates go live calmly eating cake while they watch the floor plan light up like a bingo board. 75% of stands are sold within the first hour without lifting a finger.
Exhibition manager features
- Exhibitors Search
As well as the floorplan, the user can search through the registered exhibitors by any number of possible fields, set by the Expo organiser and answered at the time of exhibitor registration.
- Exhibitors Tool
Once an exhibitor has registered and completed the booking process they are allowed access to the exhibitor zone where they can perform a number of administrative tasks designed to make their exhibition a success.
- The Exhibitor Profile
To drive buyers to their stand each exhibitor is given a 1 page profile on the website linked from both the floorplan and the exhibitors search page. The exhibitor can upload their company address details, profile and an unlimited number of pictures.
- Stand Sharing Partners
An exhibitor could potentially want to have 2 companies exhibiting in their shell space. To aid in this the exhibitor can create unlimited stand sharing partners each with their own individual profile.
- Appointments
By using the built in appointments system exhibitors can arrange appointments with other exhibitors or registered buyers. Giving exhibitors the freedom to arrange appointments and meetings with potential customers ahead of time greatly increases the value of exhibiting.
- Staff
Each exhibitor is allowed to add an unlimited number of staff to their stands giving each one unique login credentials and an appointments calendar. By increasing the number of staff at the Expo they increase the number of time slots they have to make appointments.
- Email Authoring
The website, through normal operations, generates emails contacting registered exhibitors and buyers as they use the functionality of the website. Activities such as registration, stand booking, adding staff and making appointments all generate emails.
- Real Time Reporting
To see the overall success of the website the administrator can view real time statics on such information as exhibitor and buyer numbers, stands sold, appointments requested and confirmed as well as site usage through Google Analytics.
- CSV Export
All exhibitor and buyer information is available to download as .CSV files for import into accounting, spreadsheet and database software to allow the administration staff to perform such actions as invoicing and email marketing.
Appointment booking
Each exhibitor and visitor gets their own meeting calendar, broken down in to 15 minute slots.
The attendee search tool lets them find businesses and individuals they would be interested in meeting, and the system displays a range of slots where both parties are available.
Using our exhibition networking feature, 307 exhibitors arranged a total of 9511 appointments before the event even began. That's an average of over 30 guaranteed meetings per exhibitor.
With only a few clicks, they can send a message with an invitation to meet in within a slot, which the recipient can either accept, decline or delegate to one of their colleagues.
The result is that exhibitors already had an average 21 meetings arranged before the day of the expo.
Don't just take our word for it
I think the layout and working of the online diary is the best I have ever seen from any of these shows. It looks good and works really efficiently.
David Horsley
Circle / IHM
Let's work together.
Call our Managing Director Andy on 0800 680 9777 or fill in our to discuss how we can help.