When it comes to meetings, planners are grappling with both a recession and a perception problem.
According to a new national survey, professional planners say that while constrained budgets due to the current economy represent the number one challenge facing their events, more than one-third also cite image, publicity and public policy concerns.
The survey of 516 professional meeting planners was conducted during April and May for the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA), the PCMA Education Foundation, and American Express by Y Partnership.
Better than half (55%) of the respondents were association meeting professionals, with the remainder (45%) serving as corporate or incentive meeting professionals.
The vast majority had more than 10 years of professional experience planning meetings, and one-half booked more than 20 off-site meetings during the previous 12 months.
And the majority served large organizations: slightly more than half (54%) of the association planner respondents served associations with more than 10,000 members; an equal percentage (54%) of the corporate meeting planners were employed by corporations with more than 10,000 full-time employees.
"The insights revealed in this survey confirm what most in the industry have assumed to be true in recent months: the economy is the primary culprit for the challenges now facing the industry. But professional planners are clearly concerned about the image issues and negative rhetoric associated with hosting meetings as well," said Deborah Sexton, President and CEO of PCMA and the PCMA Education Foundation.
Meeting cancellations and postponements by all PCMA and AMEX association and corporate meeting planners in 2009/2010 are projected to result in $781 million lost room revenue and $2.5 billion lost total revenue for the host destinations, lodging accommodations and meeting service suppliers.
"The need for a public-information campaign to clarify how meetings and conventions stimulate the U.S. economy and create tens of thousands of jobs is evident," shared Michael Payne, PCMA Education Foundation Chair.
“And the Foundation is committed to continuing to fund important pulse and long term research that can help industry professionals gauge the marketplace and make the best business decisions moving forward."
Highlights of the survey are summarized below:
• The most frequently planned meetings were for 100 attendees or less (52%), but just over one out of ten (12%) respondents planned off-site meetings for more than 1,000 attendees;
• Hotels were identified as the most frequently used venue (71%), followed by resorts (14%) and conference centers (10%);
• The average daily room rate typically paid for lodging accommodations was between $150 and $199 (53%);
• Four out of ten (44%) respondents expect to book fewer off-site meetings in 2009/2010 compared to the number they booked in 2008. This translates into an average of 19 fewer meetings in 2009 and 15 fewer meetings in 2010. Roughly half (47%) of all respondents expect to book the same number of off-site meetings in 2009/2010 compared to 2008;
• When asked about the primary reason(s) for their expected decrease in the number of off-site meetings booked in 2009/2010, respondents cited the following:
- Meeting budgets have been reduced due to general economic conditions - 90%;
- Image/publicity/public policy considerations - 35%;
- Cost of meeting rooms/facilities - 26%;
- Cost of food and beverage - 26%;
- Cost of lodging - 25%;
- Cost of transportation - 23%.
• More than half (56%) of planners expect their attendance at off-site meetings in 2009/2010 to fall below the comparable levels recorded in 2008;
• On average, professional meeting planners expect to pay approximately $81,000 in cancellation/rebooking fees for meetings they intend to cancel, postpone, or rebook in 2009/2010;
• Resorts are likely to be affected most adversely by the anticipated decline in meetings, with almost half (47%) of professional planners saying they expect to decrease the number of off-site meetings booked at resorts in 2009/2010. Ironically, hotels may be the beneficiary of this trend, with one out of 10 (11%) professional planners stating they expect to increase the number of off-site meetings booked at hotels during the same period. Airport properties are also expected to profit from this trend, with one out of six (16%) professional planners expecting to use airport properties more in the months ahead;
• Not surprisingly, "upper upscale," and "luxury" accommodations were cited most frequently as the types of lodging accommodations professional planners expected to use less in 2009/2010, 50% and 54% respectively;
• Professional planners also intend to make greater use of alternative meeting methods in the months ahead including Webinars (54%), teleconferencing (48%) and videoconferencing (30%).
"These results further underscore the need for companies to be more strategic and transparent in their meetings programs by finding ways to better quantify the return on their meetings investment and participant experience," said Issa Jouaneh, vice president, Strategic Meetings Management and Planning, American Express Business Travel.
"Consolidation of spend, in addition to greater transparency and accountability will be key to proving ROI, as well as positioning companies for success as the economy begins to return."
Last week, American Express Business Travel announced plans to launch MaXvantage through a strategic alliance with Maritz Travel (read more).
Upon execution of the final documentation for MaXvantage, it will provide end-to-end strategic meetings management services that support a company’s entire meeting, event and incentive travel portfolio.
In the face of heightened scrutiny of spending on corporate meetings and events, the alliance would leverage the combined strengths of American Express Business Travel and Maritz Travel by providing expense management capabilities, strategic sourcing expertise and exceptional participant experiences.
A summary of the findings will be presented in PCMA's flagship publication, Convene Magazine, in the July issue.
For more information visit PCMA or American Express Business Travel or Ypartnership
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