The UK conference industry could be in decline according to the findings of the British Conference Venues Survey – published by the British Association of Conference Destinations (BACD).

The latest research reports a 12 percent decline in the overall estimated value of the sector from £11.7 billion in 2004 to £10.3 billion in 2005.

The average number of reported conferences was actually up eight percent (1.58 million in 2005 compared to 1.47 million in 2004), so the decline in value is primarily due to a decrease in the reported levels of residential conferences, allied to a slight decrease in the length of residential conferences and the size of conferences overall.

Following several years of uninterrupted growth in value, the reported downturn gives cause for concern. It will take several years to establish whether this is a temporary phenomenon or part of a significant structural change for the sector.

BACD chief executive Tony Rogers commented: “The conference industry serves one of the basic human needs - to communicate face to face. Ongoing advances in technology and the resulting behavioural changes have created a generation of young people who are more comfortable with remote communication than their parents. The rise of faceless communication (email, text messaging etc) could lead to the demise of the conference industry as we know it.

“This shift coupled with the widely accepted principle that most of society is now ‘time poor’ is influencing delegate behaviour, whilst the influence of corporate procurement departments is driving down organiser spend. These two factors could equate to the traditional conference facing a radical and irrevocable change. The industry needs to take a hard look at the long term prospects resulting from such change and adapt and re-invent itself.”

Despite these findings, venues themselves continue to be optimistic about their future prospects – the majority anticipated 2006 business levels to be higher than in 2005.

The annual survey, conducted across all conference desks and venues in the UK, seeks to measure the key characteristics of the UK conference market from a venue perspective and then provide the best possible estimates for volume and value aspects of the market.

Other key findings:

• There were an estimated 1.58 million conferences in the UK in 2005 – an average of 452 per venue.
• Hotels, universities and other academic venues, and conference/training venues typically hosted more conferences than other venues (hotels an average of 546 conferences; universities and conference/training centres an average of 507).
• Multi purpose venues hosted the least conferences (an average 240 conferences).
• Average conference duration was 1.7 days, although most conferences (58 percent) lasted a day or less.
• Peak periods were autumn (September, October and November) and to a lesser extent spring.
• Average daily delegate rate achieved by venues was £43 (inc VAT) – an increase from £37 (inc VAT) in 2004.
• Average 24hour/residential rate was £136 (inc VAT) – the same as 2004.
• Just under one third (29 percent) of conferences were residential at the conference venue – which was a slight decrease on 2004. A further nine percent entailed delegates staying overnight off-site.
• Average conference size was 49 delegates – slightly lower that 2004 (average 53) but still higher than 2003 (average 37).
• Just under two thirds (62 percent) of conferences were generated by corporate/ for profit organisations in 2005 – the remaining third were by not-for-profit organisations. There is a slight shift away from the corporate sector compared to the previous two years.

Copies of the British Conference Venues Survey are available from the British Association of Conference Destinations, price £125. Contact sarahm@bacd.org.uk.