Meeting growth is expected to continue, especially with regards to small meetings, according to a key report released this week by IACC.
The international nonprofit association has revealed results from its annual Trends in the Conference Venue Industry report, which provides insights to help its 400 member properties enhance meeting experiences. The comprehensive study takes a deep dive into trends among small meeting venues and factors that are spurring meeting growth.
“For the second year running, significant strong performance was seen from IACC’s corporate meeting venue operators,” says Mark Cooper, CEO of IACC. “IACC members have improved revenue, occupancy, rate and profit over the previous year. ”
Meeting Growth Trends
1. Corporate conference venues experienced the strongest results, suggesting an increase in training and other meetings for large organizations operating their own conference venues for internal gatherings.
2. Complete Meeting Packages (CMP) are a key differentiator between IACC venues and non-IACC meeting venues.
3. The Average Daily Rate (ADR) for corporate conference venues rose 4.5 percent to $108.23.
4. Direct bookings vs. third party-initiated bookings were slightly higher at 86.5 percent compared to 83.3 percent reported last year.
5. Aggregate conference business increased from 59.6 percent to 69.9 percent, with meetings displacing commercial transient business and other strategies relied on to fill inventory during previous periods of lower meeting demand.
6. Digital and online marketing were the most productive sources of qualified leads for IACC venues.
The trend toward an increase in corporate training is particularly noteworthy, according to Cooper.
“We see this as an encouraging trend that will benefit the wider industry, suggesting greater business confidence and future growth with commercial venues,” Cooper says. “As the meetings industry continues its recovery for the fourth year, IACC is seeing increased investment in new-build, meetings-focused venues as well as capital investment in existing venues looking to be at the forefront of meetings innovation.”
