According
to the American Express Meetings
& Events 2013 Global Meetings Forecast (“the 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,” continued Jouaneh.
“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 grouphotel
and air
expenses to rise next year.
Global
Meeting Planning Trends
The
Forecast also explores several challenges meeting planners are facing
as they look to 2013, and identifies four distinct trends that are
common across all markets:
1)
Budget Challenges Mean More Local Meetings – To maintain current
levels of meetings activity in an environment where budgets are
likely not growing in step with costs, many companies are
transitioning from global to national or from national to regional
locations for more meetings. Also, there is a trend of holding
meetings in unique destinationssuch
as restaurants or aquariums for potential additional savings.
2)
Security and Stability Impacting Destination Choice – A continued
emphasis on duty of care is translating to a focus on safety
and security amidst potential political
instability when planning a meeting in 2013. Suppliers indicated that
this can sometimes be an advantage; for instance, some
major hotel brands located in regions with political
instability said they are often chosen based on the perception
amongst meeting planners that they offer a more consistent, higher
level of security.
3)
Meetings Approvals Becoming More Challenging – A significant
portion of meeting planners in all regions indicated that gaining
approvals for their meetings is becoming at least slightly more
difficult. In addition, there is an emerging trend of meetings
budgets not being approved until companies’ latest financial data
is available. This dynamic is putting even more pressure on already
reduced lead times and can negatively impact hotel negotiations,
potentially leading to higher costs.
4)
Increasing Engagement Via Social
Media – Meeting planners are responding to
the expectations of today’s meeting attendees by employing social
media to increase the value of events throughout their
lifecycle. Leading up to events, planners are using social
media to connect with attendees and to connect attendees to one
another so they can maximize their time at an event. During
events, social media is being used to drive even deeper
connections and more immersive education sessions, presentation Q&A
and other activities. After events, social media is also
being used to extend event communities and foster connections made
during events.
This
year, the Forecast is accompanied by three special sections that
explore key tactics meeting planners are using to reduce costs and
improve program effectiveness, including meetings payments,
electronic requests for proposals,
and virtual meetings.
To
request a complimentary copy of the Forecast, please visit the
American Express Meetings & Events Resource Center at
www.americanexpress.com/meetingsandevents.”