Leeds welcomed 2.5m delegates to 32,600 business events in the past year, which brought £413m direct expenditure to the city.
In a new survey, the city’s conference bureau, Conference Leeds revealed what delegates look for from their meeting experience, and what organisers should consider when planning their programmes.
The top five responses indicated what causes delegates to be the most active:
1. An engaging conference environment (37%)
2. Entertainment (25%)
3. Networking sessions (21%)
4. Socialising (21%)
5. Group exercise classes (20%)
The survey highlighted the importance conference environments have in engaging delegates to become more active attendees. Almost half surveyed said activities involving networking and socialising contribute to more active participation when attending a conference.
The research also found the top three least professionally beneficial parts of business events:
1. Breakout sessions (26%)
2. Networking sessions (22%)
3. Socialising lunches (21%)
Claire Heap, head of Conference Leeds, said, “As one of the leading conferencing and business event destinations in the UK, Leeds hosts a multitude of successful events from a wide variety of sectors on an annual basis.”
“Many business event organisers will understand the importance of finding the right balance of expert insights, ideas sessions, exhibition browsing and networking. Our research has suggested that even though delegates may not realise the professional benefit from networking or socialising, such as new contacts, client leads or product information, it’s still an integral part of the delegate experience.”
