The summer edition of Meetings Outlook™, Meeting Professionals International’s quarterly report, forecasts a continued healthy market, with respondents anticipating increases in employment, business conditions, and both live and virtual attendance.
Developed in partnership with MGM Resorts International and supported in partnership with the IMEX Group, Meetings Outlook presents future industry trends and predictions from MPI members, including meeting professionals on MPI’s Business Research Panel. and randomly selected MPI members.
Key findings in the summer 2017 edition include:
- 70% of respondents expect seller’s market to continue throughout 2017 and into 2018 (69%). However, the strength of this swing is only slightly in favour of suppliers—nearly a balanced market.
- 54% of respondents anticipated increased sponsorship budgets in 2018, compared to 2017. They also report increased demand for new, unique and innovative sponsorships.
- 100% of planners who are improving sponsorship packages and the variety of opportunities available to sponsors also expect increases in sponsorship revenue next year.
- Majority of planners who feel they must prove ROI of sponsorships expect flat or negative sponsorship revenue in 2018.
- Attendance at live and virtual events is expected to grow by 1.6% and 2.4%, respectively.
- 56% of respondents predict favourable business conditions—down since last quarter, suggesting signs of slowing or uncertainty.
- 51% of respondents do not have WiFi bandwidth data usage from previous meetings.
- 55% of respondents predict favourable budget/spend in 2018, up 10% from the last quarterly report
Other issues impacting the industry include the impact of proposed travel bans, and safety and security issues.
Meetings Outlook research is conducted by Association Insights. The complete report is available online.
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