Key to planners’ success will be the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to increase efficiency and improve attendee experience as well as strong partnerships with Convention & Visitors Bureaus (CVBs) to support the event.
These are the top 2024 trends meeting planners anticipate will have the biggest impact on the meetings industry, according to the 7th-annual State of the Meetings & Convention Industry study, conducted by Future Partners in collaboration with Miles Partnership and Digital Edge.
The companies surveyed more than 450 meetings and events professionals in the U.S. across a variety of planner types, including corporate, association, SMERF and third-party. The study evaluates the current state of the industry as well as feelings about the benefits and challenges ahead. The survey of meeting planners also gauges the value of the CVB or Destination Management Organization (DMO) in the meeting planning process.
“Shorter booking windows both for planners and attendees, as well as heightened expectations for live events, make the evolving job of meeting planners challenging,” said Erin Francis Cummings, president/CEO, Future Partners. “A core objective of our research is to develop a deeper understanding of the value CVBs can provide meeting planners and identify ways they can work together toward the ultimate success of the destination and event. Treating the relationship like a true partnership with proactive solutions, responsiveness and an inclusive attendee-experience mindset makes all the difference.”
Key findings
Meeting planners are still being hamstrung by soaring costs, staffing issues and hotels’ unwillingness to negotiate.
- 24.7% of planners feel their negotiating powers with hotels will decline (down 11 points year-over-year (YOY), but it is still the attribute planners most commonly agree will decrease in the coming years)
- Destination selection is heavily influenced by hotel experience with planners rating hotel/meeting facility service levels (81.6%), hotel quality (81.6%) and hotels rates (80.2%) as high or extremely high importance.
- Planners are trying to find creative solutions to ballooning F&B costs, including sourcing boutique event centers as an alternative approach to using hotel meeting space. 17.1% of planners expect service levels to decrease at hotels/meeting venues in the next three years.
- Planners are seeking AI solutions to make meetings more efficient and improve attendee experience. Additionally, some respondents shared that they plan to use AI in sourcing venues/destinations.
Planners expect increased attendance figures for live meetings, but also a wider impact on destination selection due to politics.
- In-person and hybrid events are demonstrating their staying power with planners anticipated to host an average of 6.4 live events and 4.5 hybrid events in 2024.
- 63.5% of planners expect attendance figures for live meetings to increase over the next three years (up 16 points YOY).
- 61.2% feel the impact of local politics on destination selection will also increase.
- More than half (53.2%) of planners agreed controversial issues caused planners to reconsider destinations.
Planners anticipate a growing responsibility to align their members’ values with both the destination and their meeting agenda.
- Nearly two-thirds (64.1%) of planners agreed with the statement: “A destination must align with our members’ values in order to host our meetings/events.”
- More than half of planners anticipate an increase in the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion of meeting attendees and speakers (60.3%); the importance of green practice certifications (55.5%); and an increase in corporate social responsibility initiatives (52%) being incorporated into meeting agendas.
- More than three quarters (77.7%) are open to sourcing new destinations in the U.S. they had not considered before. This affirmative sentiment was most pronounced among third-party, sports and SMERF planners.
As the demand and expectations for meetings and events grow, CVBs have a critical opportunity to showcase their meeting destination and forge strong partnerships with planners. A strong majority of planners (84%) reported they were certain or likely to use a CVB in the next 12 months.
“Building a welcoming environment for meeting attendees takes time, persistence and a collective effort,” said Melissa Cherry, chief diversity & inclusion officer, Miles Partnership. “Destinations that understand the attendee experience and inclusivity in event planning can be instrumental in helping planners reach wider audiences. Those who can adapt to varied preferences will come out on top.”
Mya Surrency, founder, Digital Edge, added, “This year’s study really underscores a transformative trend in the meetings industry: the growing need for events to resonate with attendees’ values on every level. By fostering strong relationships with DMOs, planners can lean on the destinations’ expertise in navigating the challenges in the market to produce events that are not just successful but also meaningful.”
Tags: Digital Edge, Erin Francis Cummings, Future Partners, Melissa Cherry, Miles Partnership, Mya Surrency, State of the Meetings & Convention Industry
