A new survey from Future Partners reveals the current state of the meetings and conferences industry and the top concerns of planners.
“Skyrocketing audio-visual and technology costs, coupled with incredibly high catering costs, are a major challenge,” said one corporate meeting planner who participated in the survey. “In addition, as a seller’s market worsens, so does brand consolidation in the hotel industry. A major problem.”
A lack of flexibility in negotiating contract terms also worries the planner.
Future Partners surveyed 400 corporate and association meeting planners.
The results showed that 39.6% returned to work full-time in the office. Slightly more people are working hybrid (41.3%), while only one in five are working remotely.
From a generational perspective, Millennial planners are most likely to be in the office full time (48.5%), while Gen Xers are most likely to work remotely (26.2%).
Booking window shortened
Booking windows continue to shrink, with the average planner looking for a venue 0.8 years before the event date, compared to an average of 1.3 years last year.
Planners said attendees registered for events an average of 3.4 months in advance and booked accommodation an average of 2.9 months in advance, little changed from previous research. Of these, 19% registered and booked accommodation less than 1 month after the event.
Nearly two-thirds of planners surveyed said they expect the importance of destination security to increase (64.8%). This is closely followed by expected growth in client/meeting budgets (64.3%), which is likely to keep pace with cost growth.
Planners are most optimistic about improvements in service quality (59%) and staffing levels (56.3%) of hotels and conference venues.
More than half (52.5%) expect their negotiating power with restaurants to improve in the coming year, while 15.5% said they expect the situation to worsen.
There are real concerns about whether an organization will be willing to send attendees if the cost is too high, or if the hotel cannot meet the customer’s requirements.
Politics influence conference destination selection
Less than half of planners said contentious issues such as state or local laws caused them to reconsider their 2024 meeting destinations.
The most common issues prompting people to reconsider their destination in 2024 are racial equality concerns (51.8%), gender equality concerns (47.7%), general political reputation (47.2%) and social unrest (46.2%).
Looking at the top ten destination attributes, more than three-quarters of planners said the overall quality of a hotel (78%) and/or meeting facilities (77.5%) are important, followed by a safe environment (77%) and location Destination (75.0%).
Meeting planners are increasingly using artificial intelligence
Most planners are using artificial intelligence tools to help learn more about destinations. “Last year, when we first asked planners about their use of AI tools like ChatGPT, many had yet to explore their capabilities for professional reasons, but now more than half say they regularly turn to AI tools for inspiration and To sum up the message,” said Myha Gallagher, vice president of research at Future Partners.
“Additionally, last year planners were keen to incorporate AR/VR technology into their conference programs to attract younger attendees, whose numbers are increasing as their baby boomer counterparts enter retirement age. This year, we asked directly of how this trend might change over the next three years, with most saying they expect it to increase,” Gallagher said.
