According to the American Express Meetings & Events 2013 Global Meetings Forecast, Asia Pacific, with its relatively strong economy, is likely to see the strongest growth among regions in both spending and the number of meetings. In North America, economic uncertainty is expected to keep those categories relatively flat, while Europe will likely experience declines as it continues to face a currency crisis and, due to political instability in some markets, Central/South America is also expected to see slight declines overall, especially in spend.
The findings are based on a comprehensive survey, extensive meetings and events data, and in-depth interviews of meetings professionals – including planners, buyers and hotel suppliers from around the world – conducted by American Express Meetings & Events. The Forecast examines predictions regarding budget, spend, the number of meetings, lead times and other meetings-specific metrics by geographic market. It also provides insight into key trends in meeting planning for 2013, and explores some of the key tactics meeting planners are using to reduce costs and improve program efficiency.
“Companies consider meetings and events to be a key strategy to driving revenue growth and change management, but acknowledge that they are proceeding with caution in a challenging global economy,” said Issa Jouaneh, vice president and general manager, American Express Meetings & Events. “To maximize the return on their investment, companies are highly focused on gaining clarity around spend, ensuring transparency as to why their organizations are holding meetings and who is attending them, and measuring the degree to which their meetings objectives have been achieved.
“While Asia Pacific is likely to experience growth in 2013, as Europe sees declines, meeting professionals in every region point to budget challenges and the need to ascertain their companies’ own financial performance before they make investments in meetings as top influencers of their programs,” Jouaneh continued. “As a result, one of the top emerging trends in the space is the shift to more local meetings. Meetings professionals are also preparing for group hotel and air expenses to rise next year.”