by Donald Wood
Last updated: 9:25 AM ET, Fri April 28, 2023
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.
Click here
for the latest Northstar/Cvent Meetings Industry PULSE Survey.
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