Welcome to this year’s version of the Meetings Market Trends Survey!
Besides the raw data and analysis of the survey results, the 2012 edition features some informative feedback from meeting planners who took the survey as well as interviews with two top hospitality industry consultants, Smith Travel Research’s Jan Freitag and, new this year, Dr. Bjorn Hanson, divisional dean and clinical professor of the New York University Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports Management.
Rounding out the coverage are columns from our Career Forum columnist, Sheryl Sookman, Issa Jouanah, a vice president with American Express Meetings & Events and Maxvantage, and Kevin Iwamoto, a vice president at StarCite who was formerly president & CEO of the National Business Travel Association.
A Shifting Market
We received responses from more than 805 meeting planners last October, which provides for a very valid sample size. Thanks to all who took the time to fill it out. We know it’s a very long survey—71 percent stuck with it the whole way, though!—but it really does give us a good glimpse into what meeting planners are thinking, and how the previous year has shaped up.
Here’s the skinny: It seems the market is sliding back into favoring sellers, with prices already increasing.
The first thing that leaped out was a fairly large discrepancy in what various planner segments thought would be their chief challenge.
This year 10 percent more government planners said a lower budget was their biggest challenge, while about 3 percent less corporate planners and 4.4 percent less association planners said it was of primary concern.
On the flip side of the same question, a whopping 10.3 percent more association planners said increasing costs would be their biggest challenge, along with 5.1 percent more corporate planners and 4 percent more independent planners.
A somewhat shocking 13 percent more government planners identified downsizing as the major threat to their career in this year’s survey. Maybe in relation to all this, an increasing amount of government planners said they were less satisfied with their jobs this time around.
On a positive front, 7.1 percent less association planners identified declining attendance as their primary concern for the coming year.
In general, planners are still skittish about the economy, with 8.3 percent more corporate planners and 6.7 percent more association planners saying that a poor economy was the biggest threat to the meetings world.
Other Highlights
The number of virtual meetings is remaining fairly constant, and when it comes to hybrid meetings, which combine Internet participation with a face-to-face event, 27 percent of respondents said hyrbrids had no effect on their live events, and 58.8 percent of planners said they have yet to hold a hybrid meeting. Conversely, 9.4 percent of all planners said hybrid meetings decreased their face-to-face event attendance; 4.9 percent said it actually increased attendance for their face-to-face component.
As far as attrition clause enforcement, it seems there’s a major trend at play here, reflecting the move back to a seller’s market: Roughly 10 percent less planners this year said the allowance for slippage was increased; 4.2 percent more planners said attrition clauses were enforced more frequently.
We hope you enjoy the 2012 Meetings Market Trends Survey. Please be sure to stop by MeetingsFocus.com to see even more coverage, including full interviews with many planners who took the survey.
