Meeting Professionals International (MPI) has published its Meetings Outlook, 2018 Summer Edition. A solid seller’s market, contracts and negotiations that are getting more complex, growth in demand for experiential components and the perceptual shift regarding virtual meetings – increasingly viewed as a tool to help from live events, rather than a threat to them – are among the key trends identified in this report.
Key findings include the following:
- 66% of respondents predict favorable business conditions, with a 2.8% growth expected over the next year.
- The majority of respondents (54.9%) report that contract negotiations are becoming more complex; 22.8% indicate contract negotiations now focus on very different issues than in the past. Only 3.1% of respondents view contract negotiations as getting simpler.
- 67% of respondents describe the current business climate as a seller’s market. Only 13% claim to be experiencing buyer’s market conditions.
- For the first time in almost three years of Meetings Outlook survey results, live event attendance is expected to grow more than virtual attendance—though the difference is slight (1.8% and 1.7%, respectively).
To view the full report, visit www.mpiweb.org/meetingsoutlook.
