by Donald Wood
Last updated: 12:10 AM ET, Sat March 6, 2021
New data from the Northstar Meetings Group's latest PULSE Survey showed that meeting planners are eager to get back to business this year, despite the ongoing coronavirus-related challenges.
The study of around 1,000 planners found that 81 percent said they planned to host their next in-person event in 2021, while only 19 percent said they would wait until 2022.
Another 22 percent of respondents said they would hold face-to-face events by the end of the second quarter, with more than 50 percent planning hybrid meetings or incorporating a hybrid element in the future.
The continued COVID-19 vaccine rollout has helped confidence grow and the fear of spreading or getting coronavirus decline. As a result, more than 10 percent of planners are primarily focused on booking new events, which is almost double the total from the last survey in January.
"We recently delivered registration and on-site solutions for two in-person trade shows, and we are seeing increased sourcing volume for future meetings and incentives," Maritz Global Events president David Peckinpaugh told Northstar Meetings Group. "Our data shows that we will begin seeing an uptick in late summer and early fall, with a more robust recovery happening in 2022."
The Northstar study also found that nearly 13 percent of respondents said booking new meetings is the primary focus of their jobs right now, up from just seven percent in January.
Meanwhile, the percentage of meeting planners who are not currently focused on crafting in-person events dropped from 28 percent to 24 percent since the last study.
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