published by Michele Nichols
If you have a slow day coming up during the holidays, do yourself a favor and read this report. American Express always delivers a deep, data-driven paper of the global meetings and events industry. Understanding global and North American meeting and event trends can help you forecast and grow your business. It can also come in handy when negotiating with groups and delivering on what planners expect in 2018 and beyond.
Here are 10 observations that jumped out at me when reviewing this report. Be sure to check out #10. This is continued great news for you, your venue and our membership.
So, try and sneak away, find a quiet corner, grab a coffee and read about our industry!
- The meetings industry is thriving.
- Meetings are a growth enabler for organizations.
- Hotel and air rates are expected to increase faster than meeting budgets.
- Planners expect to focus more on the quality of attendee experience over the length of the meeting.
- Pre-meeting prep work and post meeting check-ups will become more important.
- Conference & trade shows will remain the most popular type of meeting.
- Meeting spend is expected to be flat in 2018.
- Meeting planners' roles are moving beyond logistics to creating and managing the attendee experience.
- Group hotel rates in North America are expected to increase 3.5% in 2018, creating a seller’s market.
- Planners are excited for the ‘unique factor.’ For the 2nd straight year, demand for non-traditional properties blew away all other property types with another expected increase of nearly 4% in 2018.
