Trade Show

Connect Marketplace

Connect Marketplace is a scheduled B2B trade event for the meetings, events, travel, and sports industry, held in Tampa Bay from 24-26 August 2026 at the Tampa Convention Center…

Directory listing reviewed June 2026

August 24 - August 26, 2026Tampa Bay, USAManufacturing & AutomationOutsourcingTarsus Expositions Inc.
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Connect Marketplace

About Connect Marketplace

Overview

Connect Marketplace is a scheduled B2B trade event for the meetings, events, travel, and sports industry, held in Tampa Bay from 24-26 August 2026 at the Tampa Convention Center. Informa Connect positions it as a marketplace for hosted buyers, suppliers, and event professionals to meet through education, networking, and pre-scheduled business appointments.

What to Expect

Expect a trade-focused marketplace built around business appointments, networking, and education for the MICE sector. The official event pages highlight a multi-day program with agenda sessions, one-to-one marketplace meetings, and content tracks designed for event professionals seeking suppliers, ideas, and partnerships. The organizer describes the event as a place where business gets done, with emphasis on hosted buyers actively sourcing and planning, which suggests a strong matchmaking and deal-making format rather than a general public expo.

Who Should Attend

This event is best suited to hosted buyers, meeting and event planners, corporate event teams, association professionals, destination management organizations, suppliers, venues, CVBs, travel partners, and other stakeholders in the meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) ecosystem who want targeted meetings and industry education.

Why It Matters

Connect Marketplace matters because it is one of Informa Connect’s flagship business-event marketplaces for the MICE industry, bringing together qualified buyers and suppliers in a structured environment designed to accelerate sourcing and partnership-building. The Tampa 2026 edition is important for companies that sell venues, destinations, technology, services, or travel-related solutions to event planners, because the format centers on pre-scheduled one-on-one meetings and education rather than passive foot traffic. For attendees, that usually means better lead quality, more efficient networking, and a clearer path to commercial outcomes. For the broader industry, the event serves as a barometer for demand, destination competition, and the evolving priorities of planners, especially around experience design, logistics, and event value creation. There is no published indication in the provided sources of cancellation or postponement, so the event should be listed as scheduled.

Venue & directions

Tampa Convention Center

Tampa Bay, FL

Tampa Bay, USA

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Frequently Asked Questions

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