WASHINGTON, DC — The travel industry has always relied on the U.S. Travel Association’s Roger Dow to tell it like it is. In a speech this week to the National Press Club, the organization’s 17-year president and CEO expressed optimism that 2022 will be a turnaround year for business travel and events.
“We’ve made a lot of progress since March 2020, but there’s still a lot of work to do,” Dow said. “Business travel is a huge part of the overall tourism economy. Without it, we won’t be able to fully recover.”
He compared the recovery from the pandemic to the period after 9/11, when many predicted our industry would never recover. “But we did. With a lot of focus and determination, we came together to have the strongest decade in our history. We came through 9/11, the global financial crisis and other health crises like the Zika virus,” he said.
Show organizers agree that 2022 will be a turnaround year, although some believe the recovery period could extend longer than they initially anticipated.
“We initially anticipated a V-shaped recovery for the events industry,” said Shawn Pierce, president of Strategic Events, Meetings & Incentives at MCI. “As the pandemic continues, it has become clear that our growth and rebound trajectory will be much more gradual. MCI anticipates that by the end of 2024, we will see similar results in event compatibility to 2019.”
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Joel Davis, founder and CEO of JD Events, was more optimistic. “We held three events in the fourth quarter of 2021, each with stronger-than-expected attendance and surprisingly high exhibitor satisfaction rates,” Davis said. “We now expect all of our shows to go ahead as planned in 2022. We expect gross revenue to more than double what we did in 2021, surpassing our 2019 revenue.”
Desiree Hanson, executive vice president, Energy North America, Fashion and AXN, Clarion Events, agrees. “2022 and beyond looks incredibly promising for live events and we’re already seeing the signs,” Hanson said.
The most likely recovery scenario likely falls somewhere in between, according to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research. According to the most recent CEIR index, the exhibition sector is 10% likely to fully recover by the end of 2022, 60% likely to recover in 2023, and 30% likely not to recover until 2024.
One thing is for sure, as Dow told reporters in Washington: “Out of adversity comes opportunity; out of challenge comes growth. In the face of past challenges, our industry has always demonstrated incredible resilience and unity and emerged stronger than before. The same is true today.”
Contact Roger Dow at [email protected]; Shawn Pierce at [email protected]; Joel Davis at [email protected]; Desiree Hanson at [email protected]; Tricia Barglof at [email protected]; Tom Gattuso at [email protected]