A major European Meetings Industry report presented at EIBTM 2009 by The Right Solution MD Sally Greenhill revealed that the "Mood of the Market" was optimistic and upbeat, yet acknowledges there is a challenging year ahead for the sector. The research, conducted by The Right Solution in conjunction with Reed Travel Exhibitions, organisers of EIBTM, AIBTM and sister shows across the globe, surveyed 700 meetings industry professionals, including association and corporate in-house organisers and PCOs, from a range of countries across Europe.
When asked which country in the Americas they held events in the past 12 months, the results showed that 40% of respondents organised events and meetings in the USA, with the next most popular being Brazil with 15%. The USA came in 5th as the most popular destination chosen by 40.3% of the respondents for events with 284 out of 700 selecting the country. It was the leading destination outside of Europe with France, Italy, Spain and Germany above.
The results showed that 64% say the economic climate and pressure to reduce costs are the key factor of influence for next year.
However, 25% of respondents were set to organise more international events in 2009, 9% to organise more national events and 35% set to keep events about the same as last year. In terms of the number of delegates attending events in 2008, the research showed that they had either remained the same or increased over 2007.
When it came to budgets, 39% already see a decrease in budgets for next year yet a total of 61% of respondents anticipated their budgets to either increase 20% or remain the same (41%).
Despite the economic issues taking precedence 86% stated that CSR and environmental policies would be extremely or somewhat influential over the next ten years, with nearly half (46%) believing that their CSR policies impacted on all aspects of event organisation.
Although location was the top factor influencing venue selection, followed by price/value for money, quality of service is the next most important factor highlighting the importance of retaining service levels even when costs are under pressure.
The research showed that respondents rated the content of an event and the cost of attending a meeting as less important than the appeal of the destination and the venue. These results may reflect the many different types of events that respondents were responsible for, which include incentives. Celebrity speakers were considered far less important to delegates, perhaps down to the potential cost of engaging them.
