The average spend per meeting and average spend per delegate in the UK both grew significantly year on year in 2017, despite a slight decline in the average Daily Delegate Rate (DDR).
These are among the notable results revealed in the HBAA Meetings Barometer for 2017, developed in partnership with The MeetingsBenchmark Ltd.
The HBAA Meetings Barometer indicates that that average spend per meeting increased to £1,954 in 2017 from £1,613 in 2016, an increase of 21.2 per cent, while the average spend per delegate rose by 21.0% to £88.35 from £73.04 in the previous year.
With the average DDR falling slightly to £32.88 from £33.06 in 2016, the key driving force behind this growth is the increase in the average meeting size. The average number of delegates increased from 50 to 53. With the average size of meetings booked to date currently at 74, prospects for 2018 are encouraging so far.
While there was no change in the average conversion time year on year, which stayed at 19 days, the average lead-time for events was shorter, down from 83 days to 77, suggesting an increasing element of caution about forward planning for events.
Looking at the regional pattern of where meetings business was placed around the UK last year, at the top the London and Birmingham areas were close. London led the way by attracting £33m of business but by capturing £28.3m of meetings spend, the Birmingham area challenged well in second place. £9.1m of meetings business went to the Glasgow/ Edinburgh area of central Scotland while £7.1m was placed with venues in Newcastle and the surrounding area, followed by £5.9m around Leeds.
Louise Goalen, HBAA chair observed: “The growth revealed by these results confirms that 2017 was a good year for UK meetings industry sales – and 2018 is on course to be even better. Like the HBAA, the industry is building on success this year.”
To download the full report, please click here.
