New meetings business data show that new bookings are strong

Data from a new meetings business study found that while optimism remains high and new bookings are strong, concerns about space, dates and rates have all increased since January.

According to the Northstar/Cvent Meetings Industry PULSE Survey, planners voiced several top concerns for 2023 and moving forward, including shorter lead times that caused more than half of all respondents to say they are booking and sourcing events less than one year out.

Making matters worse is the continued backlog of rescheduled pandemic events. Around 30 percent of planners report they have yet to produce meetings they canceled and rescheduled due to coronavirus-related issues.

In addition to hotel satisfaction rates declining, data showed that comments critical of traditional meeting hotels, venues and AV service providers were more negative this cycle. Concerns about attendance are also prevalent, with five percent fewer planners reporting they expect their attendance to be at 90 percent or higher than their pre-pandemic levels.

“Supplier response time is my greatest concern,” an anonymous survey respondent said. “The hospitality industry is not the only industry experiencing staffing concerns.”

“If we are running 50 programs a year, with 5 suppliers per program, and they all want me to be patient because they are short-staffed, we have essentially passed the problem down to my organization not being able to effectively plan and execute events,” the respondent continued.

While there are clear issues the meetings business industry needs to address, demand is growing for cities, city centers, hotels and resorts that can provide integrated meetings and lodging services.

Planners are also seeing more interest in international programs, especially inbound to the United States and outbound to Europe. Around 75 percent of respondents who planned cross-border events before the COVID-19 outbreak are working on them once again.