The latest edition of the Meeting Professionals International (MPI) Business Barometer shows a sharp jump in employment numbers within the meetings industry, “with US and Europe trending higher than Canada”, according to MPI.
Other key findings of the latest Business Barometer, based on information given in December 2011 by 300 senior level industry professionals, include a warning for hoteliers, venues and destinations that “while corporate business is up, meetings are focusing on customer satisfaction rather than sales meetings or incentives.”
Europe and North American survey respondents reported a modest increase in meetings attendance of 1.7 per cent over the past year, while they reported increases in budget/spend of 1.3 per cent over the same period.
The greatest decline across all regions continues to be government-sector meetings for the tenth month in a row.
The survey also claimed Europe and Canada were seeing their largest gains in international association meetings while the US was recording the greatest gains in corporate domestic meetings.
Other trends identified by the Business Barometer include planners and suppliers saying they are increasing their value-add in order to differentiate their services from competitors, making employee training increasingly important.
Meeting professionals are also finding new strategic partners, increasing the number of services they offer and narrowing the scope of their marketing, the Business Barometer found.
It also noted concerns over economic instability have spread globally as meeting professionals eye US politics and economic turmoil, Eurozone weaknesses and global economic (mal)health.
The report added: “Third-party planners and suppliers have begun developing more strategic marketing plans and improving efficiency, while corporate and association planners rely on aggressive contract negotiations and plan further ahead to lock in low prices.”
One of the session at MPI’s European Meeting and Event Conference (EMEC) in Budapest next week, will be with the chief researcher of the Business Barometer, who will delve into this latest data for delegates on 30 January.
MPI’s FutureWatch publication, traditionally published in January, meanwhile, is being held back for distribution in March “to debut multiple enhancements to the report”, the association has said.
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