ARLINGTON, Virginia — For the first time since the pandemicThe number of monthly meetings and events in November exceeded that of 2019, according to the November report Monthly Data on Meetings and Events in the United States from Knowland, a provider of meetings and events information as a service for the hospitality industry. The increase in the number of events last month is a positive sign that the exhibition sector will continue its strong recovery in 2023.
In November 2022, event volume reached 103.1% of November 2019 volume, and the number of attendees per event also increased compared to 2019. Knowland also found in its data that November 2022 saw a growth of 122.5% compared to November 2021.
Although the number of attendees per event increased in November, the events sector did not see attendance exceed pre-pandemic numbers. Attendance at major events is still lower than 2019 numbers overall, but the quality of attendees is up.
“Exhibitors will see more quality attendees and get better one-on-one time with them. These are the people who can make the executive decisions about attendance, and from an ROI perspective, it works for them even if there are fewer attendees,” said Kristi White, chief product officer at Knowland.
The report also reveals that the corporate meetings segment continues to dominate, accounting for 53.5% of meetings and events activity in November, with the healthcare sector being the largest. Associations accounted for 12% of activity last month.
On the road to 2023
Meetings and events sector recovery strong, but not without challenges, says Knowland and ConferenceDirect collaborative project State of the Meetings Industry Survey 2023which was released on December 19. The survey found that more than 70% of 2022 events had attendance at or above 80% of 2019 figures, consistent with data from its November monthly report that showed attendance is up along with the number of events.
However, rising costs and staff shortages are offsetting the industry’s upward trajectory. Knowland reports that rising costs of up to 50% are prompting organisers to rethink their event strategies and goals, particularly in terms of profitability. Respondents ranked rising costs as their top concern going into 2023, and organisers are looking to new destinations for their events.
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The survey revealed some key trends for 2023, including the use of technology to enhance the attendee experience, a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and meetings and events offering a more casual atmosphere.
“Organizers are going to have to plan better events because during the COVID pandemic, people decided they weren’t going to attend every event the way they used to. Organizers are going to want to use technology to engage people more. We need to find more ways to humanize events, to make people want to fly to attend,” White said.
With COVID-19 no longer the primary concern for organizers, Knowland expects costs to stabilize, business travel to resume and budget increases to support the industry as it continues to reach pre-pandemic levels across most, if not all, metrics. “The increase in events will continue, but the number of attendees will start to stabilize,” White said.
“Catch recovery has been increasing since early summer, but this is the first time we have exceeded 2019 levels,” White said. “The message is clear: recovery is here.”
Contact Kristi White at (571) 429-5859 or [email protected]
