Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) Meetings & Events recently launched its 2017 forecast for the industry, which aims to help provide meeting planners with information to plan and budget for the coming year.
From a global perspective, analysts predict GDP growth will be slightly lower in 2017, so now is the time for planners to get the very best value for money and reduce the cost per attendee, according to CWT.
“Heading into 2017, our forecast predicts significant growth in meetings and events for regions around the world,” said Cindy Fisher, vice president and global head, CWT Meetings & Events. “By being flexible with timing and destinations, planners can take full advantage of the current market.”
Here are some key findings from this year’s forecast:
- North America will move to a buyer’s market with hotel supply expected to surpass demand for the first time since 2009. Flexibility with destination and dates will likely result in savings.
- In Brazil, hotel rates are expected to decrease as the recent World Cup and Olympic Games created a solid infrastructure and a supply surplus.
- For Asia Pacific, costs per attendee and group size are expected to grow with a 25% increase in the number of meetings.
- In Europe, strict company guidelines, reduced budgets, saving targets and increasing industry regulations for buyers could benefit midscale hotels poised to get more M&E bookings.
And here are some meeting and event trends around the globe:
- Food and Beverage: Prices are expected to rise globally. Why? Increased production prices, changes in imports and exports, and growth of special dietary requests from attendees.
- Safety and Security: Expanding deeper into M&E. How? Beyond traditional tracking of air travelers, to include manifests of all meeting attendees, to facilitate emergency planning.
- Virtual Attendance: Increasing use across M&E functions with technology that enables remote attendees to engage and participate with two-way interaction capabilities.
Click here to check out a PDF of CWT’s 2017 Meetings and Events Forecast.
