Convention Cities Index Dec. 2023 Interim Report

 Nearly four years after the world shut down due to COVID-19 and prognosticators declared a “new normal,” 2023 appears to have been a year where the meetings industry returned to something resembling the “old normal.”

Hotel room-rate fluctuations have moderated since Northstar Meetings Group’s June 2023 Convention Cities Index. Airlines are also normalizing schedule changes, and safety is stabilizing worldwide, according to data tracked and analyzed in the December 2023 Convention Cities Index Interim Report.

Updated biannually, the CCi is the meetings industry’s preeminent guide for helping planners improve their site-selection process for citywide events. A weighted ranking system is used to determine the top 25 U.S. cities and top 25 global cities, chosen for their ability to host large conventions. Planners around the world use the CCi to evaluate potential host cities based on the most pertinent site-selection factors.

Methodology

The first and only of its kind, the CCi is compiled using an in-depth methodology and extensive research on six evaluation categories, including:

1. The amount of indoor exhibit space at each city’s largest convention center;
2. The number of hotel rooms within 15 minutes walking distance of the convention center;
3. The average cost of a hotel room;
4. The travel time (without traffic) from the nearest major international airport to the convention center; and
5. The number of direct flights per month and 6) the city’s safety level for travelers. 

Note: Some cities have more than one convention center that meets the exhibit-space criteria. The CCi data for these cities includes the total exhibit space, all nearby hotels and the average travel time from all eligible convention centers to the nearest international airport. 

The December 2023 CCi Interim Report includes updated data on room rates, safety scores and monthly flights. Average room rates were sourced from Business Travel News’ 2023 Q3 Corporate Travel Index. Flights per month were sourced from Cirium, an aviation analytics provider, which collects data from more than 2,000 sources, including airlines, airports and regulators. All direct flights into the area’s airports were considered. Safety scores were provided by GeoSure, an app that synthesizes data from several sources, such as the CDC and the World Health Organization. Among factors considered: health and medical concerns, daytime/nighttime safety, LGBTQ+ safety, women’s safety, theft, and basic freedoms. On a scale of 1 to 100, the higher the number, the safer the destination.

All CCi data points will be refreshed again in June. Comparing the latest CCi to previous editions allows planners to gather a historical view of the data and consequent changes in convention city competitiveness.

Key Takeaways

For meeting planners, attendees and the industry that serves them, this CCi Interim Report reveals a return to a more predictable prepandemic supply-and-demand marketplace. Findings include

• Hotel prices among U.S. CCi cities dropped an average of 0.6 percent in the past six months, versus a 7 percent increase across the global CCi destinations.
• The total number of monthly flights decreased by 2 percent in the United States and 3 percent on the global index.
• Safety scores have been on the rise, with an average increase of 10 percent among U.S. cities and 5 percent for global destinations. 

Use the form above to download the full results.

Tags: 2023 Convention Cities Index Interim Report