What is a hosted buyer program and how do you run one?

A hosted buyer program is a trade fair initiative in which the organizer invites a selected group of qualified buyers, usually covering part or all of their travel and accommodation, in exchange for a commitment to hold pre-arranged meetings with exhibitors. Running one well means choosing the right buyers, learning what each of them wants to source, matching them with relevant exhibitors, scheduling the meetings before the fair, and reporting what those meetings produced.

What a hosted buyer program is

Most visitors decide on their own whether to come to a fair, which stands to walk past and whom to talk to. A hosted buyer program changes that for a small, chosen group. The organizer identifies buyers with real purchasing authority, often from target export markets, and makes it easy for them to attend. In return, the buyers agree to a structured schedule of one-to-one meetings with exhibitors.

The program is sometimes called a buyer delegation, a hosted buyer scheme or a matchmaking program. The details differ from fair to fair, but the exchange is the same: the organizer invests in the buyer's attendance, and the buyer invests time in meetings.

Why trade fairs run them

Exhibitors pay for space, travel and staff because they want to meet people who can buy. A hosted buyer program gives the organizer a direct way to deliver that.

• Qualified demand on the floor. Instead of hoping the right decision makers turn up, the organizer brings them.
• Measurable exhibitor value. A meeting that was requested, accepted and held is easier to point to than general footfall.
• New markets. Organizers often use the program to bring buyers from countries or sectors the fair wants to grow into.
• Rebooking arguments. When an exhibitor can see which buyers it met and what followed, the conversation about next year starts from data.

Government support for buyer delegations in Türkiye

In Türkiye, the Ministry of Trade also supports buyer delegation programs ("alım heyeti"). Who can apply and which costs are covered is set by the circular on sectoral trade delegation and buyer delegation support under Presidential Decision No. 5973 on export support. The points below follow the circular as amended on April 20, 2026.

• Who can apply. Not companies directly, but the cooperating organizations the circular lists, among them TİM, TOBB, DEİK, exporters' associations, chambers of commerce and industry, organized industrial zones, technology development zones, sector associations and export consortia.
• Which costs are covered. Economy-class travel for up to two people from each invited foreign company, and their accommodation up to 2,500 TL per person per night; plus organization costs such as interpreting, venue hire for one-to-one meetings, company matchmaking and promotion.
• Conditions. Applications without a one-to-one business meeting program are not considered, and programs organized only as fair visits are not supported. Applications generally need at least 8 participating companies, and a program can last up to 10 days excluding travel.

Because the support goes to cooperating organizations, a fair that wants to host a supported buyer delegation plans it together with one of them. Applications go through the Ministry's Support Management System (DYS). Support rates and caps are set in the decision and can change, so check the current circular before applying. The one-to-one meeting program the support requires is built with the matching and scheduling steps in the rest of this guide.

Selecting and inviting buyers

Selection is where most of the program's value is decided. A buyer who is not a decision maker, or who has no interest in the product categories on show, uses a seat and a hotel room without producing business.

Typical selection criteria include:

• role and purchasing authority (owner, director, purchasing manager)
• company type and size, and the volume the company buys
• product categories or services the buyer is looking for
• target country or region
• whether the buyer has attended before, and how many meetings they actually held

Many organizers cover economy travel, hotel nights and local transfers for hosted buyers, or a defined part of these. In exchange, buyers usually sign program terms. Common obligations are a minimum number of meetings, attendance on specific days, and a rule that support may be withdrawn or reclaimed if the buyer does not show up. The exact terms vary by fair, so write yours down clearly and share them before the buyer accepts.

Collecting buyer needs at registration

Matching is only as good as the information behind it. Use the registration form to collect what you will need later, in structured fields rather than free text where possible:

• product categories and services of interest
• current suppliers or origin countries, if the buyer is willing to share
• purchasing timeline and approximate volume
• languages spoken
• days and time slots the buyer is available

Exhibitors need a matching profile too: what they sell, which markets they serve and what kind of buyer they want to meet. Ask for this when exhibitors book, not a week before the fair.

Matching buyers with exhibitors

There are two common approaches, and many programs combine them.

1. Request-based. Buyers and exhibitors browse each other's profiles and send meeting requests; the other side accepts or declines. This respects preferences but can leave some participants with few meetings.
2. Organizer-led. The organizer, or a matching tool, proposes pairs based on stated needs and offerings, and both sides confirm. This spreads meetings more evenly and helps first-time buyers who do not know the exhibitors yet.

Whatever the method, check the results before publishing them. Look for buyers with too few meetings, exhibitors with none, and pairs that clearly do not fit.

Scheduling pre-arranged meetings

A meeting schedule is a grid of buyers, exhibitors, time slots and locations. A few rules keep it workable:

• Use fixed slot lengths, often 20 to 30 minutes, with a short buffer between slots.
• Decide where meetings happen: at the exhibitor's stand, or at a dedicated meeting area with numbered tables.
• Avoid back-to-back meetings at opposite ends of the venue.
• Leave free time for buyers to walk the floor; they also came to discover.
• Send each participant their personal agenda in advance, and again on the morning of each day.

For high-volume formats, round-based meetings work well: everyone moves at the same time, each buyer sits at an assigned table, and each round brings a new pairing. This is the same logic as speed networking applied to procurement.

Running the on-site flow

On the day, the program succeeds or fails on logistics.

• Meeting area. Signpost it clearly, number the tables, and keep a help desk nearby.
• Timing. Announce the start and end of each round if meetings are round-based. Late meetings push every later slot.
• Check-in. Record whether each meeting actually took place. A quick check-in at the table or a confirmation in the app is enough.
• No-shows. Have a plan: notify the waiting party quickly, offer a replacement meeting where possible, and record the no-show for later review.
• Changes. Buyers will ask to add or move meetings. Decide in advance who can approve changes and how the updated agenda reaches both sides.

Measuring results and reporting to exhibitors

The core numbers for a hosted buyer program are simple:

• meetings planned versus meetings held
• meetings per buyer and per exhibitor
• no-show rate, for buyers and for exhibitors
• follow-ups after the fair: messages, sample requests, quotes, orders

Send each exhibitor its own report: which buyers it met, when, and what each side recorded. Use the buyer-level data to decide whom to invite again. A buyer who held most of their meetings and generated follow-ups is a strong candidate; one who skipped half the schedule is not.

Common mistakes

• Inviting for volume. A long buyer list with weak qualification produces empty tables and frustrated exhibitors.
• Collecting needs too late. If buyer interests arrive the week before the fair, matching becomes guesswork.
• No written obligations. Without clear terms, there is no basis for following up on no-shows.
• Overbooking buyers. A schedule with no breaks leads to missed and rushed meetings.
• Measuring planned meetings only. What matters to exhibitors is what was held and what followed.
• Forgetting the exhibitor side. Exhibitors need to know who they are meeting and why, before the buyer sits down.

How Eventiqs helps

Each step in this guide maps to an Eventiqs module. You turn on only the modules your program needs; buyers and exhibitors use the same app, and your team works from one panel.

1. Selecting and inviting buyers: Registration and Visitor Management collects buyer applications as a separate category. With invite lists and an approval flow, only the buyers you accept enter the program. Eventiqs Select, which screens applications with AI, is coming soon.
2. Collecting needs: Sector, product group and the supplier profile a buyer is looking for are asked on the registration form. When the buyer opens the app, the profile is ready and matching starts from that data.
3. Matching: Smart Matching suggests suitable exhibitors to each buyer, with a reason and a match score. Buyers review each company's products and representatives in the exhibitor profiles.
4. Scheduling meetings: With meeting requests and messaging, both sides settle the meeting before the fair. If you run meetings in rounds at tables, Speed Networking builds the match matrix; you edit the draft and publish the agenda.
5. On the fair day: Every buyer sees their table, time and the company they meet in the app. Meetings turn into saved connections through QR and business card scanning.
6. Reporting: Analytics and Reporting shows planned meetings, connection requests and QR scans. Results are reported per exhibitor and feed the planning of your next program.

Reference: At EMITT 2026, 3,500+ planned B2B meetings among 28,000+ visitors and about 600 exhibitors were managed with Eventiqs. The EMITT 2026 case study describes the setup.

To plan your buyer program together, get in touch.