Convene - March 2017

Cost of Doing Business

Site Selection

When it comes to ranking tools for booking meeting sites, site visits are ;irst, according to 41 percent of respondents. A higher percentage of planners say that online searches are their preferred site-selection approach over one-on-one sales interactions ( 35 percent and 22 percent, respectively), and only 6 percent rank fam trips as their ;irst choice.

Airbnb and Shared Housing

Most respondents ( 79 percent) said that Airbnb and other shared-hous-ing platforms are not important options for their attendees. Seventeen percent expect that a percentage of registrants will use Airbnb rather than their headquarters hotels or hotels in their room block, but it’s low: 6 percent of registrants, on average.

Booking Window

More than two-;ifths of respondents ( 43 percent compared to 31 percent in the 2015 study) report that they are booking their large meetings more than three years in advance; 24 percent are booking two to three years ahead; 24 percent are booking only one to two years out; and 10 percent are booking their large meetings in under one year. The average booking window is 2. 5 years, slightly above 2. 3 years reported in last year’s survey.

Technology

The technology that respondents continue to seek most for their meetings is high-speed wireless internet access. In terms of social media, 78 percent of respondents rate Facebook either ;irst or second when it comes to marketing their meetings and engaging attendees. Seventy-two percent say Twitter is their No. 1 or No. 2 choice, while LinkedIn is ;irst or second by 51 percent. Instagram is ranked ;irst and second by 35 percent (a big jump from 2 percent in last year’s survey) and Pinterest is ranked ;irst by 10 percent. Eight percent of respondents use Snapchat as their ;irst and second choice, and 6 percent of respondents rank Periscope ;irst — in last year’s survey, no one reported using Periscope.

Virtual Meetings

Fewer than one in ;ive respondents ( 17 percent) report that their largest event included a virtual or hybrid component. Twelve percent (compared to 14 percent in the 2015 survey) report that their use of virtual meetings and events increased in the past year, while 82 percent (compared to 79 percent in the 2015 survey) say it remained the same and 6 percent (down from 7 percent in the 2015 survey) report that it decreased. On average, respondents’ use of virtual meetings and events went up nearly 0.3 percent, on par with last year’s survey increase of 0.2 percent.

Changes as a Result of the Economy

More than half of respondents (62 percent) say they have not made any changes to their meetings over the last year because of the economy. Twelve percent (down from 16 percent in the 2015 survey) say they have cut back on some aspects of their events because of the lingering e;ects of the downturn in their particular industry.

Conversely, 26 percent (up from 21 percent in the 2015 survey) say they have been able to make a greater investment in their meetings because they’ve seen an improvement in their industry.

Meetings Market Survey

will be holding meetings outside of the U. S.

POTEN TIAL INTERNATIONAL DES TINATIONS

International destinations that respondents are most likely to consider:

Canada 75%

(for U.S.-based respondents)

Western Europe 47%
United Kingdom 37%
Asia 33%
Mexico 30%
Caribbean and Bermuda 26%
South America 20%
Australia/Paci;ic Rim 18%
Eastern Europe 18%

Africa 8%

FUTURE INTERNATIONAL MEE TINGS

Forty-three percent of respondents (down from 50 percent in the 2015 survey) report that they will be holding meetings outside the United States in the future.