International Congress & Convention Association
CONFERENCE TRENDS
Rob Davidson.
Senior Lecturer in
Business Travel and Tourism
University of Westminster
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC
ENVIRONMENT: ‘A TOXIC MIX’
• Financial crises in most large advanced
economies
• Inflationary pressures
• Credit and liquidity crunch
• The bursting of house market bubbles
• High oil and commodity prices
• Trade linkages to the US
• BUT …
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC
ENVIRONMENT
• Growth in some key economies: Germany,
Japan …
• Prosperity in some key sectors:
pharmaceuticals …
• Many commodity prices are falling
• The IMF has raised its global economic
forecast from 3.7% to 4.1%, for 2008
• The Gulf/Middle East is one of the regions
contributing most to this growth
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
THE CONFERENCE MARKET
ENVIRONMENT:
THE U.S.
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
THE CONFERENCE MARKET
ENVIRONMENT:
THE U.S.
• The rapid growth in the number of
convention centres means more choice and
more competitive prices for meetings
planners in the U.S.
• Fear of recession is a top concern for
40% of meeting professionals in the U.S.,
(compared to 24.1% in Europe and 22.8%
in Canada).
• Inflation is an immediate concern for
36.2% of U.S. respondents (but only 20%
of Canadians and Europeans).
(Futurewatch 2008)
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
THE CONFERENCE MARKET
ENVIRONMENT:
THE U.S.
• U.S. meeting planners’ budgets are
rising – but not as fast as the number
of meetings they are expected to plan
• U.S. meetings planners are expected to
achieve MORE, with the same budget
• Over one third of U.S. planners
expressed concern over oil and gas
costs and their impact on travel prices
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
THE CONFERENCE MARKET
ENVIRONMENT:
EUROPE
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
THE CONFERENCE MARKET
ENVIRONMENT:
EUROPE
• Europe still out-performs all other world
regions, with almost 60% of all
international association meetings
• Rising air travel will be moderated by
growth in low-cost carriers – but most
of those are intra-European
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
THE CONFERENCE MARKET
ENVIRONMENT:
EUROPE
• The situation in the convention centre
segment is close to a buyers’ market:
• ‘The competition between many regional
and national convention centers in Europe
has led to centers being sold under the
real price and many receiving subsidies
from the local or regional government’.
Edgar Hirt, Head of ICM - Internationales Congress Center München,
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
THE CONFERENCE MARKET
ENVIRONMENT:
ASIA-PACIFIC
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
THE CONFERENCE MARKET
ENVIRONMENT:
ASIA-PACIFIC
• Demand (for hotels and air travel) is
exceeding supply, despite massive
investments in infrastructure
• Development in China is driving the
region, with almost 800 hotels planned
or under construction.
• China accounts for 50% of all planned
new hotel properties in the Asia-Pacific
region and 60% of all guestrooms.
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
THE CONFERENCE MARKET
ENVIRONMENT:
ASIA-PACIFIC
• ‘The Asia-Pacific region is set to
become the largest regional
aviation market in the world
within the next three years . The
growing markets of India and
China, supported by a resurgent
Vietnam, are driving
unprecedented levels of
investment in aircraft, airports
and hotels’.
Don Birch, President and CEO of Abacus International
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
THE CONFERENCE MARKET
ENVIRONMENT:
ASIA-PACIFIC
• Many international associations are
keen to grow their memberships in
China and Asia.
• ‘Almost 50% of the Chinese buyers
reported that they had held events in
Europe within the 12-month period
leading up to the survey; and over onethird of Chinese buyers said that they
had held events in North America
during the same period’.
GIBTM 2007 Meetings and Incentive Industry Research Report
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
THE CONFERENCE MARKET
ENVIRONMENT:
THE MIDDLE EAST
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
THE CONFERENCE MARKET
ENVIRONMENT:
THE MIDDLE EAST
http://meetingsreview.com/news/vi
ew/1402
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
THE CONFERENCE MARKET
ENVIRONMENT:
THE MIDDLE EAST
• At a time when MPI is extending
its own presence to new regions of
the world, 14.4% of respondents,
(including 15.9% in Canada and
31.0% in Europe) said they had
seen increased interest in holding
meetings in the Middle East.
FutureWatch 2008
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
THE CONFERENCE MARKET
ENVIRONMENT:
THE MIDDLE EAST
• More demand for events in the
region, due to:
• Greater interest in the region from
clients
• More awareness of the region’s
attractive destinations
• Improved infrastructure
• High quality developments
GIBTM 2007 Meetings and Incentive Industry Research
Report
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
THE CONFERENCE MARKET
ENVIRONMENT:
THE MIDDLE EAST
• The mean expenditure for events
in the Gulf/Middle East increased
by 45% from the 2007 GIBTM
study, to US$505,000
• The mean lead time for
organising events in the Middle
East is 5 months, down from 6.5
months a year ago (but still longer
than the worldwide average of 4
months)
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
GLOBAL MEETINGS
TRENDS:
MORE …
• Outsourcing of meetings services
• Globalisation of the meetings
and events industry
• Involvement of procurement
professionals, in conference
planning
• Concern for the environmental
impacts of conferences
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
REASONS FOR OPTIMISM
• Association conferences are
planned well in advance, and
generally must take place
• “It is especially important to keep
the sales team motivated in times
of economic downturn. The
corporate meeting is still the
most economic way to reward
employees while expressing the
corporate message.”
Hal Etkin, CEO of ME Productions
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
REASONS FOR OPTIMISM
• This is an industry that is strong,
thriving and moving quickly to meet
a variety of internal and external
challenges
• We will see a steady meetings
market over the next year, with little
or no change in the number of
meetings organized
• But healthy increases in average
meeting attendance
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
REASONS FOR OPTIMISM
• We know much more about the
science of:
• Meetings design and content
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
REASONS FOR OPTIMISM
• We know much more about the
science of:
• Venue design
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
REASONS FOR OPTIMISM
• We know much more about the
science of:
• Motivating Generation Y delegates
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
REASONS FOR OPTIMISM
• We are already educating the next
generation of conference industry
professionals
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
THANK
YOU,
EVERYBODY
International Congress & Convention Association
DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE COPY
OF THE INDUSTRY RESEARCH
REPORTS FROM:
www.gibtm.com
www.eibtm.com
Rob Davidson
Senior Lecturer
in Business Travel and Tourism
davidsr@wmin.ac.uk
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com