MCLEAN, Va.
Cvent, Inc., has revealed its third annual list of the top 50 cities for meetings and events in the United States. Chicago claimed first place, climbing from second place last year and fifth place two years ago. Orlando and Las Vegas continued to hold top spots.
The top 10 cities include:
1. Chicago
2. Orlando
3. Las Vegas
4. Atlanta
5. San Diego, Calif.
6. New York
7. Dallas
8. Washington, D.C.
9. New Orleans
10. Nashville, Tenn.
“Destinations are increasingly jockeying for lucrative meetings and events business which is an important generator of revenue for the cities and local businesses,” said Bharet Malhotra, senior vice president of sales for the Cvent Supplier Network.
“While investment in infrastructure, hotels and entertainment is critical for being an attractive destination, one of the stand-out trends this year is out of destinations’ control – location. Across several metrics, we have seen more booking and interest in Midwestern and other centrally located cities during the past 12 months.”
Event planners are drawn to convenient location and competitive pricing in the Midwest, prompting more events in those destinations. In addition to Chicago rising to number one, central cities New Orleans and Nashville climbed into the top ten ranking this year, both moving up several spots from last year.
Additionally, St. Louis made the biggest jump from 2013, climbing eight spots to number 27 this year, and Louisville made the list for the first time, along with Chandler, Ariz.
Methods and Criteria
Cvent evaluated more than 5,000 U.S. cities featured on the Cvent Supplier Network to compile the third annual list. Activity was tracked from July 2013 to June 2014 and the ranking was then determined by a set of qualifying criteria consisting of:
- Unique Request For Proposals Received.
- Total Room Nights.
- Awarded Request For Proposals.
- Awarded Room Nights.
- Percentage of Qualified Meeting Venues.
- Number of Profile Views.
Featuring more than 218,000 hotels and special event venues, the Cvent Supplier Network is one of the world's largest, most accurate databases of detailed venue information. It contains listings of hotels and other venues in more than 175 countries that can be searched and filtered based on approximately 200 characteristics and data fields.
Cvent, Inc. has over 1,450 employees and more than 12,650 customers worldwide.
