Title: Hosted buyer programmes: recruiting buyers and keeping them to their meetings | Summitrix URL: https://summitrix.com/insights/hosted-buyer-programme-recruit-qualify/ Summary: What a hosted buyer programme is, the qualification rules large shows publish, how appointment minimums and no-show fees work, and what a smaller organiser can borrow. - [Home](https://summitrix.com/) - [Insights](https://summitrix.com/insights/) Hosted buyer programmes # Hosted buyer programmes: recruiting buyers and keeping them to their meetings With a hosted buyer programme, the event covers a buyer's costs and the buyer agrees to sit down with exhibitors. Exhibitors then judge the show by one thing: did those meetings happen? Below are the rules some of the big trade shows publish, and the bits a smaller summit can use. - [What the organiser pays for, and what it asks back](https://summitrix.com/insights/hosted-buyer-programme-recruit-qualify/#section-0) - [Check authority, then check there's a real project](https://summitrix.com/insights/hosted-buyer-programme-recruit-qualify/#section-1) - [Plan for no-shows before they happen](https://summitrix.com/insights/hosted-buyer-programme-recruit-qualify/#section-2) - [Size the meeting load to the exhibitors you have](https://summitrix.com/insights/hosted-buyer-programme-recruit-qualify/#section-3) ## What the organiser pays for, and what it asks back IBTM World describes a hosted buyer programme as a chance for exhibitors to meet "a curated selection of buyers". Those buyers are sponsored, meaning the event picks up travel, a hotel and food ([IBTM World guide](https://www.ibtmworld.com/en-gb/blog/event-management/hosted-buyer-programme-guide.html)). At The Meetings Show in London it's return economy flights, a four-star hotel for up to two nights, and lunch in the buyer lounge ([The Meetings Show FAQs](https://www.themeetingsshow.com/hosted-buyer-faqs)). The exchange is time. Buyers commit to pre-scheduled appointments. IBTM's FAQs set a minimum of ten 20-minute appointments per day of attendance. The RX terms for WTM Spotlight Riyadh ask for a minimum of thirty, and say the requirement must be met day by day rather than bunched up. Your summit with twelve sponsors won't need anything like that. Even so, put a number in writing before the first invitation goes out. ## Check authority, then check there's a real project The published criteria have a lot in common. IBTM looks for a senior decision maker with business planned in the coming year. The Meetings Show assesses event size and frequency, purchasing authority and where the buyer's events take place. RX wants direct purchasing and contracting authority, and it excludes people who are really there to sell. For your own programme, turn those ideas into a short application form: - the buyer's role and what they can sign off - a project or budget expected in the next 12 months - which exhibitor categories they want to meet - who at the organiser approves each application, and how quickly ## Plan for no-shows before they happen Missed meetings are the main risk, and the large shows handle them in writing. IBTM says a fee of 100 euros may be charged for each missed appointment that wasn't rescheduled. RX tolerates three reported no-shows, then may apply a US$1,000 cancellation fee and can exclude the buyer from future programmes. The Meetings Show warns that cancelling a hosted place after its deadline may cost up to £500. A small invitation-only event may not want to charge anyone. You still need a stated rule, a reminder before each day, and a record of who missed what. Converve, which sells meeting software, says attendance at every meeting can be tracked so that whoever doesn't show is documented for next year ([Converve](https://converve.com/solutions/hosted-buyer)). ## Size the meeting load to the exhibitors you have More meetings per buyer is not always better. In a 2026 article Converve puts the usual range at six to eight pre-scheduled one-to-ones a day. It also describes one exhibitor at IMEX Frankfurt 2026 that cancelled more than 140 confirmed meetings because it didn't have the space or time to take them. The bottleneck was on the exhibitor side. Before setting the minimum, count the exhibitor staff who will actually sit in meetings, and the hours they have. Then work out how many buyers you need. Most of these published terms come from large travel and meetings trade shows. Few executive summits publish theirs, so treat the figures here as reference points, not standards. ## Sources and further reading - [IBTM World: hosted buyer programme guide](https://www.ibtmworld.com/en-gb/blog/event-management/hosted-buyer-programme-guide.html) - [IBTM World: hosted buyer FAQs](https://www.ibtmworld.com/en-gb/help/faqs.html) - [RX: WTM Spotlight Riyadh hosted buyer terms and conditions](https://www.wtm.com/spotlight-riyadh/en-gb/hosted-buyer-terms-and-conditions.html) - [The Meetings Show: hosted buyer FAQs](https://www.themeetingsshow.com/hosted-buyer-faqs) - [Converve: how many meetings should each hosted buyer get?](https://www.converve.com/event-networking-blog/how-many-meetings-per-hosted-buyer) - [Converve: hosted buyer software for organisers](https://converve.com/solutions/hosted-buyer) Sources checked 29 October 2026. Guidance can change. This article combines cited source information with Summitrix’s proposed working approach. ### Prepare your event brief. Tell us who you want to invite and what your event offers. - [Prepare your event brief](https://summitrix.com/#brief) - [Delegate acquisition services](https://summitrix.com/delegate-acquisition/) - [Event email campaigns](https://summitrix.com/event-email-campaigns/) - [All insights](https://summitrix.com/insights/)