The Oysters - a collection of more than 20 international tourist boards and convention bureaux - has formed an exclusive marketing partnership with new events trade show The Meetings Show UK.

The partnership will see the two organisations working together on mutually beneficial business development activity within the UK throughout the coming year. As part of the marketing partnership, The Meetings Show UK will be the main sponsor of The Oysters Summer Party being held on 5 July 2012 at One Marylebone, London; The Oyster Networking Event  2012 being held on 18 October 2012 in Macdonald Manchester Hotel and Spa; and The Oysters Association luncheon taking place in November in London. Meanwhile, a number of the Oyster members are interested in exhibiting at the inaugural edition of The Meetings Show UK in 2013 and are in individual discussions with show organisers.

Marie Anne Barthet Brown, senior manager MICE UK & Ireland at the Malta Tourism Authority, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with The Meetings Show UK and see the partnership as a very effective way for us to reach senior buyers. We strongly believe that the UK needs a fully hosted show and we are thrilled to be wholeheartedly supporting this initiative.”

Steve Knight, exhibition director at The Meetings Show UK, said: “Both our organisations are focused on attracting and helping the UK meeting, incentive and conference buyer, so the synergy was obvious to both us and their members. The Oysters represent over 20 of the most popular overseas destinations and the partnership reflects our philosophy of supporting our exhibitors and partners on a year-round basis.”

The Meetings Show UK will take place in London’s Olympia in July 2013, with plans for 1,500 fully hosted buyers and a total buyer attendance of over 5,000.

The Oysters is comprised of tourist boards and convention bureaux representing Australia, Belgium-Flanders, Belgium-Wallonia, Canada, Cyprus, Dubai, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, Macau, Malta, Norway, Oman, South Africa, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.