Greenwich University Senior Lecturer in Events Management and Conference News columnist Rob Davidson presented the annual EIBTM Global Industry Trends and Market Share Report at the European meetings and incentive tradeshow EIBTM, 30 November.
The report is a compilation and “synthesis”, said Davidson, of various
pieces of industry research published throughout 2011 and Davidson told
his audience it had been the most difficult yet to compile.
“Without doubt, the economy and how we deal with uncertainty in world
markets is the biggest issue facing our industry at this time. Only
economic growth can reverse the weakening in the global recovery, and as
an industry it is imperative that we now demonstrate that we can be
part of the solution, rather than a cost to businesses.”
Davidson said, however, that the difficult economic background had
taught the industry to operate effectively within volatile markets by
using innovative solutions and by cooperating to a greater extent than
ever before. “There can be no doubt that this spirit of cooperation and
collaboration has already created stronger intra-industry relationships
that will last for years to come,” Davidson said.
Davidson contrasted slow or neglible growth in many advanced Western
economies and problems in the eurozone, with BRIC powerhouse economies,
and in the forefront China, that were driving growth, including in the
meetings industry.
Davidson believed his survey showed a greater degree of optimism from
the meetings industry than in the global economy as a whole. Most
analysts were predicting that corporate meetings demand would continue
to grow worldwide, he noted, approaching peak 2008 levels by year-end
2012. Venue rates, he said, would rise faster in 2012 than in 2011.
Davidson expected the price differential between second- and third-tier
cities compared with top-tier destinations (generally, capital cities)
to widen, offering more opportunities for these destinations in the
international meetings market.
The outlook for the association market was rosier than for the corporate
market according to the survey which claimed associations’ revenue from
exhibitions that accompany conferences remained stable and that levels
of sponsorship are expected to increase in the year ahead.
The BRIC to watch closely was Brazil, said Davidson. “That populous
nation is set to overtake the UK to become the world’s sixth biggest
economy this year, according to projections from the Economist
Intelligence Unit.”
Davidson predicts that there will be rapid growth in the volume of
meetings held between Chinese companies and the companies in regions
such as ica and Brazil that are supplying it with the commodities it
needs.
Davidson, however, noted that global trends in the first half of 2011
were markedly more optimistic than those in the second part of the year.
“Something happened during the summer, the picture changed. There was a
loss of momentum leading to a year of two halves.”
Davidson picked out the pharm sector as a ray of optimism for driving
more meetings. “There is increasing global demand to fulfil the health
needs of an ageing population and an increase in cheaper, generic
drugs,” said Davidson. This meant more meetings were likely. Automotive
was another sector identified for big growth in China and India, and
likely again to lead to more meetings demand.
“Meeting professionals have begun to recognise that it has become much
easier to extend the impact of an event beyond the four walls of the
meeting room,” said Davidson, “and that hybrid events can multiply an
event’s impact and can even attract new attendees for future events. In
the words of the 2011.”
One area for gloom, however, was the incentives market, where
ostentatious spending, in particular, appears to have been reined back
sharply. Davidson gave the example of Australia where international
business events and spending on them had risen significantly, yet
spending had dropped 19 per cent in the incentives sub-sector.
Davidson’s advice was where business is slack “use the opportunity to hone the skills of your staff”.
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