Positive economic trends combined with the global expansion of companies will drive continued growth for the meetings industry in 2016, according to the American Express Meetings & Events 2016 Global Meetings Forecast, which predicts key meetings activities and trends each year.
Across all regions, the number of training and internal meetings is expected to experience high levels of growth as companies continue to invest in bringing their employees together for face-to-face meetings.
Following a year of added capacity, an increased focus on compliance-related concerns and a growing need to manage risk across all meeting types, meeting owners are predicted to expand their budgets. In turn, hotels are expected to increase capacity in key cities, but lead times remain tight, so meeting owners who are able to plan farther ahead have the best chance of securing their first choice properties and dates.
The 2016 Forecast also provides a look at three key areas of interest among meetings professionals: compliance, incentives and using mobile and social media for events, all of which are expected to continue to shape the meetings industry in 2016.
“The resurgence of meetings and events over the past few years has allowed meetings professionals to demonstrate the strong value that face-to-face meetings continue to offer globally,” said Issa Jouaneh, senior vice president and general manager, American Express Meetings & Events.
In North America, 2016 points to continued increases in all meeting types across the region, further fueling the increased activity seen in 2015. Training and internal meetings are expected to continue to experience strong growth and rise more than any other meeting type next year.
As the number of meetings is predicted to increase, attendee levels in North America are also expected to trend upwards. As a result of recent economic growth, companies are renewing their focus on employee-centric meetings by planning a greater number of incentive meetings and special events next year; however, meeting planners are also implementing processes to ensure the right audiences are in attendance to further maximize their returns on their meetings investments and increase compliance.
Although respondents are optimistic about growth, the length of meetings is predicted to remain largely unchanged in 2016. While overall program spend is expected to rise, marking the largest forecasted spend increase in three years, budgets remain tightly controlled as spend per attended is increased.
A complete copy of the 2016 Global Meeting & Events Forecast can be obtained at the official Amex Meetings website: https://www.amexglobalbusinesstravel.com/meetingsforecast2016/.
