Cvent, a meetings, events, and hospitality technology provider, has published an eBook detailing seven meeting and event trends for 2023.
The eBook is designed to help navigate the return to in-person events and evolved planner expectations, with recommendations to help venues attract and win business events.
The trends
1) Surge in future bookings
The October 2022 Planning Sourcing Report revealed that 83% of event planners expect to host more in-person events in 2023 compared to 2019.
2) A renewed focus
The report also found that 29% of planners expected hospitality partners to help them maximise the event experience by finding “creative space solutions” and focusing more time and effort on helping them create “better events”.
Post-pandemic, there’s now a heightened focus on the return on time, experience, and investment for event attendees.
3) Venue selection and social activism
A Shopkick survey of over 10,000 consumers in 2021 found that 39% are researching company values to assure they align with their own.
David Allison, a consumer behaviour expert, surveyed 750,000 people around the world and identified 56 shared core human values. Planners can use this information to better understand what motivates their attendees, how to better market to them, and how to provide them with more engaging content.
In learning more about their attendees’ core values, planners will want venues to help them create activities and opportunities that reflect those priorities.
4) Hybrid, virtual and in-person events
At Skift Meetings’ Future of the Event Industry Summit 2022, over half of attendees polled said they would primarily be using hybrid event formats in the latter part of the year.
The combination of hybrid, virtual and in-person event types is something that venues must be prepared to support. This means having access to the latest technology and being able to help planners create high quality video content.
5) Focus on health and wellness
The Global Wellness Institute projects a 21% annual growth rate for wellness tourism through 2025 – this means an increased interest in spas, thermal/mineral springs, sustainability, and mental wellness.
For event venues, highlighting local wellness attractions and amenities can attract more planners.
6) Leisure destinations
Research published in the National Bureau of Economic Research cites ‘remote work’ as causing an increase in working hours in 2020 and 2021.
For 2022, the response has been an increase in ‘bleisure’ trips. Venues should emphasise the staycation value of their property and showcase experiences attendees could check off their bucket list.
7) Virtual reality
Technological advances like planners using VR headsets to see what an event space would look like, could save time and increase the saleability of the venue.
