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WELCOME
TO FUTUREWATCH
2005
T
here is, perhaps, no more fertile ground for insights and
indicators for the future of the meetings industry than the global
membership of Meeting Professionals International (MPI).
With a nearly 50-50 ratio of more than 19,000 planner and
supplier members in 60 countries, MPI is in a unique position
to leverage data points and holistically report on internal and external
factors impacting the industry’s current state and future direction.
Capitalizing on this leadership position, MPI and American Express began an annual landmark
research study in 2003 on the business of meetings. Now in its third year, FutureWatch 2005
builds on side-by-side planner and supplier comparisons from North America and Europe,
reporting year-over-year trending on key economic indicators such as spending, international
travel, and employment. It also maintains a watchful eye on the pace of meetings management
and other signs of commoditization and consolidation and continues a call to action for stronger
buyer/seller relationships to ensure long-term success in an evolving industry.
In addition, FutureWatch 2005 looks closely at attrition due to the level of concern planners and
suppliers have expressed about this issue in previous years. The need to more quantitatively prove
the value of meetings in today’s cost-conscious environment has led to a new section on how
planners and suppliers are involved in the ROI (return on investment) measurement process.
Beyond guidance for the industry as a whole, the contributions of 1,851 respondents
(960 planners and 891 suppliers) to FutureWatch 2005 also serve as a reference to MPI as the
organization executes Pathways to Excellence. This strategic plan will propel members and the
meetings they implement to a more strategic level, ensuring the US$102.3 billion business of
meetings and events remains a dominant force in the global economy.
General Economic and Industry Outlook
Summary of
SIGNIFICANT FINDINGS
Multiple indicators point to sustained and expanding economic
growth for the meetings industry worldwide in 2005.
The meetings industry is expected to grow again in 2005, with increases in key areas, including
budgets, employment, employee training, proposal activity, number of attendees per meeting or
event and expenditures per meeting or event. Additionally, international travel continues to
rebound, as meeting planners on all geographic fronts forecast more meetings beyond their
domestic borders with the largest increase coming from Canadian and European planners.
FUTUREWATCH 2005
1
Summary of
SIGNIFICANT FINDINGS
While all parties forecast growth, the
gap has widened between projected
supplier revenue targets and meeting
planner expenditures in 2005.
Hoping to capitalize on positive
economic trends, suppliers continued
a track record of eagerness, projecting
higher revenue gains than the positive,
yet more restrained, spending projections
of meeting planners. The resulting 8
percent disparity vs. a 7 percent disparity
in 2003 and 2004, respectively signals a
continued buyer’s market as suppliers
battle to steal market share and make
their revenue goals.
For the second consecutive year,
recovering corporate budgets reflect
improved overall corporate health;
yet, budgets for consultants and
independent planners still dominate
the marketplace.
Corporate meeting-related expenditures
continued to recover from budget cuts
and downsizing in 2002, growing at
a steady pace. While a sign of enterprise
improvement across the board,
companies are not walking away from
external meeting planning resources.
In fact, 2005 budget forecasts for independent and consultant planners
outpace corporate budgets by almost
double, indicating a continued move to
outsourcing as an ongoing strategy.
Another sign of positive economic
recovery comes with a healthy threefold increase in associations/society
planner budgets in 2005.
Major external forces such as the
economy and world security continue
to weigh heavily on the business of
meetings and the people that plan and
support them, presenting significant
professional challenges for planners
and suppliers alike.
External factors, largely out of the
control of the meetings industry, are
impacting the way planners and
suppliers do business. Leading the way,
the global economy and security are
affecting meeting planners in the forms
of budget constraints, rising travel costs,
consolidation and threats of commoditization. The “do more with less”
mantra adopted by businesses during
the economic crisis of 2002 and 2003—
and shortened lead time for planning
and booking meetings—has, in large
part, become standard operating
procedure, despite economic recovery.
As a result, planners feel significant
pressure to justify the value of their
jobs, as suppliers must justify the value
of their products and services amidst an
increasingly competitive business
environment and escalating expenses.
Planner/Supplier
Dynamics
Despite last year’s predictions of a
potential swing to a market favoring
suppliers, 2005 will remain a buyer’s
market.
While most planners and suppliers
don’t expect an increase over last year’s
heightened attention to price concessions and flexibility surrounding
attrition and cancellation clauses, about
a quarter of suppliers expect to increase
concessions. This price elasticity combined with disparities between expected
supplier revenues and planner expenditures will increase pressure on
suppliers to gain greater market share
through favorable business negotiations
that will benefit planners in 2005.
The year-over-year pace of meetings
management is steadily moving
ahead, with more planners reporting
full implementation of standardized
policies and procedures than reported
in FutureWatch 2004.
Standardized meetings management
policies and procedures are in place or
will be within the next two years at
many organizations. About one-half of
planner respondents have adopted or
are implementing organization-wide
meetings management processes,
programs, tools and technology,
standardizing items such as purchasing
policies, contract language, meeting
request forms and reporting platforms.
Web site enhancements continue as
the focus of technology investment
among suppliers in 2005, followed by
wireless technologies; all other new
technology investment categories will
decline.
Nearly all suppliers expect to invest in
Web site enhancements in 2005,
addressing planner expectations to
increase reliance on the Internet for
research and booking meeting venues.
Suppliers also indicate a slight technology investment increase in wireless.
The increased use of technology will
allow suppliers to work more efficiently
and accommodate increasingly
compressed lead times, however, this
puts additional pressure on face-to-face
business communications already
strained during staffing downturns.
Unexpected is the marked departure
from FutureWatch 2004 in which new
investments rose in all technology
categories except one … in 2005, only
Web enhancements and wireless
technology will see investment gains.
Commoditization ranks second only to
budget concerns as the operational
trend expected to have the greatest
impact on planners and suppliers in
2005; attrition drops substantially.
An increasing number of planners and
suppliers agree that commoditization
concerns within the meetings industry
will be on the rise again in 2005. As
technology offers more opportunities for
automation and the industry employs
more standardized meetings management, the risk that the function becomes
reduced to a purchasing decision based
on cost grows. Meanwhile, in a significant turn, attrition concerns among
suppliers and planners plummeted,
signaling positive outcomes from
corrective action on both sides of the
business.
FUTUREWATCH 2005
Despite increased pressure to prove
the value of meetings, suppliers are
not being involved in ROI or other
critical measurement processes.
both aspire to establish a partner
relationship, the limited communications
on meeting success measures underscores
a breakdown in this process.
Most planners say they measure the
return of meeting investments frequently,
but the majority of suppliers are seldom
or never asked to help build systems or
processes for measuring meeting return.
Suppliers are not receiving feedback on
meeting ROI, with less than one-third
mentioning that planners consistently
share meeting success measures. While
In addition to desiring greater sharing of
ROI measures, most suppliers want
planners to offer more honest disclosure
of budgets, more comprehensive communications and more detailed RFPs.
They also want to improve their relationships with planners by understanding
more about their business and responding
to inquiries faster, which hinge on an open
flow of communication. The vast majority
of planners would like to work with
suppliers as partners rather than as vendors.
In addition, planners want increased
flexibility in attrition/cancellation clauses
and quicker turnarounds on requests.
Suppliers and planners, well intentioned
and committed to working together to
make the industry thrive, will continue to
face challenges to their business relationship without greater communication.
Facts and
FIGURES
A Sustained Market Recovery
Expecting more growth in 2005, meeting planner and supplier average spending
and revenue projections increased by 2 and 3 percent respectively from 2004.
Meeting planners forecasted a 5 percent budget increase vs. 3 percent in 2004.
Meanwhile, suppliers project revenues to increase by 13 percent compared to
10 percent last year, creating an 8 percent differential for 2005. Interestingly,
however, when looking at the three-year trend, planners’ budgets increased a
total of 6 percent and suppliers tracked at a 7 percent increase overall.
Suppliers and Planners:
Projected employment and training
budget increases 2004 vs. 2005
Suppliers:
Employment
Training
4%
4%
2005
2004
9%
9%
2005
2004
13%
10%
6%
2005
Suppliers
Suppliers and Planners:
Estimated budget/revenue
change 2003 - 2005
2004
2003
Employment
2004
2003
4%
3%
2005
2004
5%
3%
-1%
2005
Planners
Planners:
Training
7%
5%
2005
2004
10
0
10
0
In addition to measuring projected percentage change in year-over-year budgets,
FutureWatch 2005 also sought to quantify spending among planners by asking
them to provide actual budget figures for 2005. European planners are the most
aggressive in their projections, expecting budget increases of 6.5 percent from 2004,
while U.S. planners come in on the lower end at 4.7 percent. Canadian planners
rest squarely in the middle, projecting budget growth of 5 percent. Suppliers in the
United States, Canada and Europe project strong positive revenue growth rates as
well from meetings/events in 2005 at 14, 13 and 11 percent, respectively … all
higher than the 10 percent growth rate projected last year.
Suppliers and Planners:
Average percentage changes per
meeting or event 2004 vs. 2005
Suppliers:
Number of attendees
4%
1%
2005
2004
Length
-3%
-4%
2005
2004
Expenditure
per attendee
3%
-2%
2005
2004
Planners:
Number of attendees
6%
5%
2005
2004
Length
-1%
-2%
2005
2004
Expenditure
per attendee
2%
1%
2005
2004
Slight gains expected in other
notable meetings industry indicators.
10
0
Beyond forecasted increases for meetings industry revenue and spending,
additional signs of further recovery come in the form of increases in employment
and training budgets for the second year in a row. Employment is expected to
increase in planner and supplier organizations by an average of 4 percent, and
training budgets are expected to increase by an average of 7 percent for planners
and 9 percent for suppliers.
FUTUREWATCH 2005
3
Facts and
FIGURES
U.S. Planners:
Projected Venue Usage
European meeting planners are projecting the biggest jump in international bookings,
with an increase from 17 percent in 2004 to 28 percent in 2005. While the United
States remains the top destination at 8 percent, Asia made an impressive comeback at
7 percent, up from 4 percent in 2004. Canadian planners also forecast an increase in
the likelihood to meet outside of the country from 23 percent in 2004
to 29 percent in 2005. The United States is the lead locale, expected to get 13 percent
of all Canadian meetings, 2 percent more than was projected in 2004. Venue choices
of U.S., Canada and Europe planners are projected to remain relatively constant.
2005
FutureWatch 2005 points to a second year in a sustained growth of international
meetings and business travel. U.S. planners project 23 percent of all 2005 meetings—
up 1 percent from 2004—will be held outside domestic borders, with Europe and
Canada cited as the top destinations at 6 and 5 percent, respectively.
2004
2003
International Travel Sustains Growth
Convention centers
7% 11% 9%
Restaurants, country clubs
and unique venues
9% 11% 11%
Conference centers
and universities
9% 11% 10%
Airport and suburban hotels
13% 13% 15%
Resort hotels
27% 24% 25%
City hotels
35% 30% 32%
Canadian Planners:
U.S. Planners:
Projected Venue Usage
2004
2003
77%
78%
89%
5%
5%
3%
6%
7%
4%
3%
2%
1%
2%
1%
1%
Asia
3%
3%
1%
Other
4%
5%
1%
Canadian Planners:
2005
2005
Central South
Canada Europe America America
2004
U.S.
2003
Projected Meetings in Various Geographical Locations
Convention centers
12% 11% 12%
Restaurants, country clubs
and unique venues
9% 12% 9%
Conference centers
and universities
8% 9% 9%
Airport and suburban hotels
9% 16% 11%
Resort hotels
12% 14% 15%
City hotels
50% 39% 45%
Projected Meetings in Various Geographical Locations
U.S.
Central South
Canada Europe America America
Asia
Other
European Planners:
Projected Venue Usage
71%
77%
89%
4%
3%
2%
3%
4%
1%
3%
0%
0%
2%
0%
0%
4%
6%
0%
European Planners:
Projected Meetings in Various Geographical Locations
U.S.
2005
2004
2003
8%
9%
6%
Central South
Canada Europe America America
3%
1%
1%
72%
83%
82%
3%
1%
0%
3%
2%
1%
Asia
7%
4%
6%
2005
2003
13%
11%
8%
2004
2004
2003
2005
Convention centers
19% 15% 17%
Restaurants, country clubs
and unique venues
10% 14% 14%
Conference centers
and universities
16% 18% 19%
Airport and suburban hotels
4% 8% 8%
Resorts hotels
16% 13% 12%
City hotels
35% 32% 30%
Other
4%
0%
4%
ers:
ill be
5 as
2004
FUTUREWATCH 2005
Operational Trends
Impacting Meetings
Outsourcing Here to Stay?
Corporate planner respondents paint a positive picture of rebounding budgets
topping an estimated $7.1 million average in 2005 vs. a 2004 average of
$5.3 million. Independent, multimanagement and planner consultants expect
even higher budgets foretelling a stronger hold on the industry with average
budgets expected to reach $11.8 million in 2005 from $6.1 million last year.
Apparently, the growth in corporate planner budgets is having little, if any,
impact on the money being spent with independent planners, indicating that
the outsourcing model will potentially remain viable and active even upon full
market recovery. And association, society and non-profit planners come out the
big budget winners, with average estimated budgets growing to $4.8 million
after holding steady at $1.4 million in 2003 and 2004 … indicating a return to
membership in professional society and non-profit organizations as professional
development purse strings loosen.
Planners and suppliers agree about expected
changes in price concessions and degrees of
flexibility in attrition and cancellation clauses
by suppliers. Twenty-five percent of suppliers
and 24 percent of planners expect these to
increase while 18 percent of suppliers and
25 percent of planners expect a decrease.
Slightly over half of suppliers and planners
expect them to remain as flexible as last year
… again suggesting that a new business
environment might well be here to stay.
While budgets continue to be the leading
operational trend expected to impact the
meetings business in 2005, there continues
to be increasing concern about commoditization, a trend first observed in
FutureWatch 2003. Eighteen percent of
planners and suppliers project that
commoditization will have the greatest
impact on meetings in 2005, increasing by
13 percent for planners and 5 percent for
suppliers.
Planners:
Estimated Budgets By Category 2003-2005
Corporate/company
$4,059,235
$5,296,329
$7,143,191
Consultant/independent
planner/multimanagement
$4,379,485
$6,128,952
$11,782,429
Association/society/non-profit
$1,336,366
$1,328,770
$4,843.088
$637,098
$1,264,922
$1,875,942
University/government/medical/other
2003
2004
2005
Other factors that suggest further
commoditization potential include the
expanded use of Internet technology by
planners, investment in Internet technology
by suppliers and the implementation of
standardized meeting practices.
Attrition Resolution
As one of the hottest meetings industry issues in past years, the topic
of attrition was more deeply analyzed in FutureWatch 2005.
A surprising decrease in attrition concerns by suppliers and planners
indicates how powerful their partnerships can be when they attack an
issue together to find resolutions favorable to both. Approximately
41 percent of planner respondents think attrition will be only a
minor problem in 2005, and 17 percent predicted it will not be a
problem at all. Only 10 percent identified attrition as a significant
Significant
problem in the coming year.
Planners and Suppliers:
2005 Operational Trends
With The Greatest Impact On Meetings
Planners:
Not a problem
In a related question, the proportion of respondents indicating
10%
17%greatest impact on
attrition clauses as the operational trend with the
meetings declined from 31 to 17
Planners:
percent among planners and from
Extent attrition will be
21 to 13 percent among 32%
an issue in 2005 as
suppliers. Top strategies
opposed to 2004
Minor identified
41%by planners for
Significant
Not a problem
reducing attrition are
combining conference event
10%
17%
registration with housing
reservations, creating
attendee incentives
Moderate
32%
and ensuring
published Internet
Minor
41%
rates are greater than room
block rates.
Organizational
budget changes
2005
Cancellation and
attrition clauses
2005
Commoditization
of planning
Moderate
Airline ticketing/scheduling
policy changes
53%
51%
2004
17%
31%
2004
18%
5%
2005
2004
5%
11%
2005
2004
Suppliers:
Organizational
budget changes
2005
Cancellation and
attrition clauses
2005
Commoditization
of planning
2005
Airline ticketing/scheduling
policy changes
2005
58%
60%
2004
13%
21%
2004
18%
13%
2004
5%
4%
2004
60
40
20
FUTUREWATCH 2005
5
Facts and
FIGURES
Web and Wireless Take the Lead
Suppliers:
New Technology Investments
The Internet continues to be a primary technology focus for planners and suppliers.
In 2005, meeting planners expect to use the Internet 21 percent more to research and
4 percent more to book meeting venues. These numbers reflect a slight increase in
the use of the Web for research and a slight decline in booking over 2004.
Web site enhancement
Wireless technologies
Guest room technologies
New A/V equipment
On the supplier front, 85 percent of respondents plan to invest in
Online booking/planning systems for meeting planners
Web site enhancements and 67 percent in wireless technologies.
Customer relationship management technologies
Surprisingly, these are the only two categories of technology expected
Registration technologies
to grow in 2005 as opposed to 2004, when investments were expected to
Online travel and housing systems for bookings
grow or stay the same in every category except teleconferencing. Despite
Teleconferencing
the retrenchment in technology investments, more than half of the
Audience/attendee response tools
suppliers responding expect to make some investment in new audio/video
Virtual meetings/shows
81% 83% 85%
48% 66% 67%
55% 65% 56%
55% 62% 58%
54% 59% 52%
50% 59% 51%
40% 47% 45%
48% 47% 42%
35% 29% 28%
25% 28% 26%
24% 24% 20%
equipment, guest room technologies, online booking/planning systems
and customer relationship management technologies this year.
2003 2004 2005
Meetings Management Under Way
FutureWatch 2004 undertook an industryfirst measurement of the pace of
standardized meetings management,
asking planners to indicate the degree to
which their organizations are implementing standards and practices in areas
such as contract language, registration
tools, meeting request forms, reporting
and reconciliation platforms. This year’s
study provides a year-over-year analysis.
purchasing channels, 50 percent have
preferred supplier programs, and 48
percent have or will have a technology
base established. The percentage of
orgnizations that have completed full
implementation has grown in three of
the four meetings management categories since 2004 while the percentage of
those not considering areas of standardization has decreased.
According to findings, implementation
and consideration of organization-wide
meetings management practices will
steadily climb in 2005. Fifty-seven
percent of planner respondents have fully
implemented or plan to implement
organization-wide purchasing policies;
54 percent have or will standardize
Meanwhile, suppliers indicate they are
not conforming to standardized
purchasing policies at the levels they did
in 2004. Only 37 percent of suppliers are
conforming to planners’ standardized
purchasing policies a majority of the
time, down from 44 percent last year.
And just 13 percent of supplier
respondents say they are required to be a
preferred vendor more than 50 percent of
the time, down 1 percent from 2004.
Seventy percent say the requirement
occurs less than 25 percent of the time.
The seeming disparity between planners
and suppliers on the pace of meetings
management indicates that planners are
implementing internal policies and
procedures that are not being clearly
communicated or reflected in their direct
relationships with suppliers.
Planners:
Meetings Management Policies And Procedures
Degree Of Implementation
Areas Of
Standardization
2004
2005
23%
20%
2%
3%
21%
20%
9%
13%
2%
3%
1%
1%
42%
40%
21%
18%
4%
3%
25%
25%
11%
13%
1%
2%
1%
1%
37%
39%
30%
25%
4%
4%
24%
23%
5%
8%
3%
3%
0%
1%
34%
38%
28%
22%
2%
2%
24%
28%
12%
11%
4%
3%
1%
1%
29%
33%
FUTUREWATCH 2005
Planners:
Measuring Meeting ROI
Use of Measurement
of ROI Tools
Sixty-seven percent of planner respondents always or frequently measure the returns on their
meeting investments. To get a better understanding of how they measure those returns, they
were asked about tools used to determine success. Eighty-one percent of respondents
indicated that post-event attendee surveys are the most frequent ways planners measure ROI.
Meeting budget and revenue reports and client feedback followed at 73 percent and
68 percent, respectively. This indicates that planners still predominantly rely on tactical event
measures rather than those that underscore the broader strategic impact of meetings on their
organizations’ business goals and objectives.
Suppliers are not highly involved in helping develop return on investment measurement
tools or models for the industry. In fact, 68 percent of supplier respondents indicated
planners seldom or never ask for help in building or enhancing systems or processes for
measuring meeting ROI.
Forty-four percent of planners say they always or frequently share meeting performance
measures with suppliers, and 29 percent of suppliers always or frequently receive meeting
performance measures from planners. This disparity indicates planners and suppliers are
typically not communicating with each other about ROI performance measurement results.
In fact, suppliers do not appear to know when planners are measuring results and vice versa.
The research indicates that 38 percent of suppliers think their planner partners measure ROI,
compared to the 67 percent of planners who claim they do, in fact, measure ROI.
Post-event
attendee surveys
81%
Meeting budget
and revenue reports
73%
Client feedback
68%
Onsite audience
response systems
23%
Organization’s
sales reports
20%
Other
7%
Communication Challenges
Commitment to Partnering
37%
of suppliers are comforming to
planners’ standardized purchasing
policies a majority of the time.
13%
of suppliers say they are required
to be a preferred vendor more
than 50 percent of the time.
70%
of suppliers say the requirement
occurs less than 25 percent of
the time.
Last year, FutureWatch 2004 provided a firstever forum for planners and suppliers to
describe business interaction and highlight
areas to optimize their working interactions
and business success. Suppliers said that
planners could help by focusing on better
and more complete communication, more
lead time and flexibility, honesty regarding
budgets and expectations, detailed
information regarding needs, teamwork and
more allowance for creativity. Planners
similarly indicated they needed more
efficient communications from suppliers,
quicker response to requests, better
understanding of lead time and flexibility
restraints, more team work, continuation of
competitive pricing and taking time to learn
about planners’ needs and work flows.
Building on this, FutureWatch 2005
measured these common themes to
establish year-over-year trending. The results
indicate that most planners and suppliers
still have room for improvement when it
comes to improving relationships and
meeting each others’ expectations during the
business cycle.
FUTUREWATCH 2005
7
Facts and
FIGURES
Communication Challenges
Commitment to Partnering (cont.)
When asked in a write-in question, what, if anything, they did to aid the other in the
business process, just 18 percent of planners and 11 percent of suppliers indicated they
communicated more over the past year, and 12 percent of planners and 4 percent of
suppliers responded that they tried to work as partners. There was little or no significant
increase in improving business relationships in any other area.
Planners:
Planned Approaches to Improve
Relationships With
Suppliers in 2005
Submit more thorough
Suppliers:
Desired Business Practices from Planners in 2005
Work together as a partner 71%
More honest disclosure of budgets 67%
More lead time/flexibility 56%
More comprehensive communication 49%
More detailed requests for proposals 45%
More allowance for creativity 29%
Other
8%
Planners:
Desired Business Practices from Suppliers in 2005
In 2005, however, suppliers and partners
Planners:and detailed RFPs
express an equal and overwhelming
desirePractices
to
from Suppliers in 2005
Desired Business
Allow suppliers more creativity
work as partners. Seventy-one percent of
Flexibility 85%
suppliers and planners identified this as a
Honest, full disclosure
Work together as a partner 71%
working objective for 2005. When suppliers
of budgets
were asked how planners couldFaster
workresponses
better to requests/inquiries 58%
More detailed, transparent quotes 42%
with them, they asked for more honest
Increase RFP/execution
lead time and flexibility
disclosure of budgets, more leadLearn/better understand my business 35%
time/flexibility, more comprehensive
Use e-mail more 33%
Learn
communication and more detailed RFPs.
Better
Webmore
site about
30% suppliers’ business
When planners were asked how Softer
suppliers
sales and marketing approach 26%
Automate RFP and/or
could work better with them, more flexibility,
Other 6%
contract process
faster response to requests and inquiries and
more detailed, transparent quotes led the list.
Thirty percent also cited better Web sites as
tools they would like suppliers to deliver.
50%
42%
41%
36%
34%
18%
Flexibility 85%
One-half of planners intend to improve their
relationships with suppliers by submitting
Faster responses to requests/inquiries 58%
more thorough and detailed RFPs. In
More detailed, transparent quotes 42%
addition, a segment of planners will allow
Learn/better understand my business 35%
suppliers more creativity, give honest, full
Use e-mail more 33%
disclosure of budgets, increase RFP lead
Better Web site 30%
time/flexibility and learn more about their
Softer sales and marketing approach 26%
business. Most suppliers intend to improve
Other 6%
their relationships with planners by
understanding/learning more about their
businesses and responding to requests/
inquires faster. In addition, a large segment of suppliers will use e-mail more and provide
more detailed proposals.
Work together as a partner 71%
With both sides of the business
committed to bettering the
relationship, the time to act on that
commitment is now.
All of these improvements are based upon free exchange of information. Without strong
communications, planners and suppliers cannot establish the value necessary to stem
further commoditization and may, in fact, sabotage efforts to strengthen the relationships
needed to ensure the long-term viability of the meetings industry.
Suppliers:
Planned Approaches to Improve
Relationships With
Planners in 2005
Understand/learn more
about planners’ businesses
71%
More rapid response to
requests and inquiries
61%
Increase use of
e-mail vs. phone/fax
45%
More transparent
and detailed proposals
36%
Softer sales and
marketing approaches
14%
FUTUREWATCH 2005
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The health of the meetings industry mirrors
that of business and the economy in general.
Increased meetings, particularly those requiring
international travel, are fuel for a worldwide
economic engine and are signs of continued
steady growth in the meetings industry in 2005
and its supporting effect on a stabilizing, recovering
world economy.
At the same time, with external factors
weighing heavily on the industry,
planners and suppliers must prove more
flexible and adaptable than ever by
continuing to improve working
relationships. The meetings industry has
experienced a shake out, and while the
business is picking up and budgets are
expanding, the industry is not returning
to doing business in the same way. The
efficiencies companies were forced to
create in a tight economic market are
likely to remain in place, positioning
companies for greater growth as the
marketplace rebounds.
Predictions that 2004 would evolve into
more of a seller’s market have not
transpired. Despite growing planner
budgets, sellers remain challenged to
grow market share, continuing to make
price concessions in order to win
business. 2005 will continue to be a
buyer’s market, with sellers needing to
provide added value through speed and
flexibility.
Technology and standardized meetings
management practices have become
standard operating procedure for many
organizations, making consolidation and
commoditization concerns long-term
realities for meeting professionals.
Meeting professionals must understand
and embrace how procurement officers
are impacting meetings management,
become fluent in the language of
business, articulate the strategic value of
meetings and adopt more sophisticated
skills, tools and metrics to ensure
relevancy and positive impact to their
organizations.
While planners recognize the importance
of measuring meetings, they are not yet
effectively measuring them against
The effort put forth on both sides to identify
and implement solutions for attrition is a
model for moving forward on critical issues
such as proving the ROI of meetings through
creating and implementing ROI
measurement tools and committing to
better, more frequent communication. As
planners work to get seats at the executive
table, they should not hesitate to call on
their suppliers to help make their case. By
fully understanding meeting details and the
corporate objectives planners are working
What has happened with the issue of attrition
is a testament to the power that planners and
suppliers have when they engage in a focused
effort to address an industry challenge.
strategic corporate business objectives.
There exists significant opportunity for
planners and suppliers to pursue a more
concerted, proactive partnership. What
has happened with the issue of attrition is
a testament to the power that planners
and suppliers have when they engage in a
focused effort to address an industry
challenge. Cited as a major concern in the
past two FutureWatch studies, attrition has
been largely mitigated, according to this
year’s study.
toward, suppliers can offer more effective
and efficient solutions.
For additional tools and information
regarding strategic meetings management
practices and return on investment, visit the
MPI Global Corporate Circle of Excellence
Web site at www.gccoe.mpiweb.org.
FUTUREWATCH 2005
9
BACKGROUND
FutureWatch is an annual research study, now in its third year, commissioned by Dallas-based
Meeting Professionals International (MPI) in partnership with American Express. Conducted in late
October 2004, FutureWatch 2005 surveyed MPI members, the world’s best collective of professional
meeting planners and suppliers, to identify and comment on global meetings industry trends and
indicators for 2005 and beyond. MPI commissioned an independent firm, Syndics Research, to conduct
an online survey and perform statistical and qualitative analysis of the findings.
Suppliers:
Planners:
Organizational Responsibility
Organizational Responsibility
Sales or marketing director,
supervisor or manager
55%
Internal planning staff
37%
Member of a sales
and/or marketing team
20%
Internal planning executive
26%
Owner/CEO/President
15%
Independent planners
20%
Operations or financial director,
supervisor or manager
3%
Professional planner staff
or executive
9%
Other
5%
Owner/CEO/President
3%
Operations or
financial executive
2%
Other
5%
Suppliers:
Planners:
Response Rate
Response Rate
10%
8%
Canada
10%
11%
U.S.
Participation: The survey garnered 1,851 responses
(11 percent total response rate of those invited to
participate), of which 52 percent (960) were from
MPI planners and 48 percent (891) were from MPI
suppliers. Overall, participation represented 11
percent of MPI planner members and 9 percent of
MPI supplier members, which was slightly more than
19,000 at the time the survey was executed.
Europe
Europe
Canada
Methodology: MPI sent a series of three e-mail
invitations to 16,503 members worldwide
announcing the study and requesting participation.
All responses were received anonymously. Member
respondents were asked to provide a range of
information regarding their organizational roles,
projected business, organizational and operational
challenges, use of technology, implementation of
standardized purchasing policies and procedures, ROI
measurement, attrition issues and more for 2005.
79%
U.S.
82%
Publisher
Colin Rorrie Jr., Ph.D., CAE
Editorial and Design Support
Allison Ellis, Vice President of Marketing and Communications
Joe Welch, Syndics Research Corporation
Kelly Schulz, Director of Communications
Shannon Couzens, Couzens Communications
Stacy Clark, Marketing Manager
Jeff Daigle, Assistant Art Director
Gary Rockwood, Graphic Designer
Publications Staff
John Delavan, Director of Publications/Editor in Chief
Blair Potter, Managing Editor
Jason Hensel, Associate Editor
Angela Chiarello, Associate Editor
Michael Pinchera, Assistant Editor
Kirsten Rockwood, Publications Coordinator
Printed by RR Donnelley & Sons Company
Senatobia, Mississippi, USA
Meeting Professionals International
Global Headquarters
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In Canada
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Canada
tel 905.286.4807
fax 905.567.7191
FutureWatch 2005 is an official supplement to the January 2005
issue of The Meeting Professional, the official publication of
Meeting Professionals International, a professional association of
meeting planners and suppliers. Members receive The Meeting
Professional as a membership benefit paid for by membership
dues; $50 of membership is allotted to The Meeting Professional
and is nondeductible there from. Nonmembers may subscribe to
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Copyright 2005, Meeting Professionals International,
All Rights Reserved.