Publisher
Edwin L. Griffin Jr., CAE
Publications Staff
Bruce MacMillan, Associate Publisher
Welcome
to FUTUREWATCH 2003
John Delavan, Director of Publications/Managing Editor
Blair Potter, Assistant Managing Editor
Funmi Okunbolade, Editor
Angela Chiarello, Assistant Editor
Editorial Support
Allison Ellis, Director of Marketing
T
his unique analysis by Meeting Professionals International
(MPI) and American Express focuses on expectations for the
Bill Voegeli, President, Association Insights
meeting industry in 2003 and beyond. Diverging from typical
Design
Derek Huscroft, Graphic Designer
Gary Rockwood, Graphic Designer
industry analysis that reflect only planners’ perspectives,
Printed by RR Donnelley & Sons Company, Senatobia,
Mississippi, USA
FutureWatch 2003 delivers an industry first with insights from
FutureWatch 2003 is an official supplement to the January
2003 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; $25
of membership is allotted to The Meeting Professional and
is nondeductible there from. Nonmembers may subscribe
to the publication for $50 annually ($69 international).
For subscription information, deletions and address
updates, call (972) 702-3020 or e-mail
publications@mpiweb.org. File address changes with the
U.S. Postal Service online at www.moversguide.com.
Copyright 2003, Meeting Professionals International, All
Rights Reserved.
planners and suppliers throughout North America and Europe.
FutureWatch 2003 is the most extensive, forward-focused study
ever conducted by MPI, the leading global community for the
meeting industry, with nearly 20,000 members in 60
countries. Its significant findings go beyond speculative water-
TABLE
cooler assumptions and statistically validate that the business
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CONTENTS
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of meetings is, indeed,
undergoing a dramatic
Summary of Significant
Findings
evolution. It also establishes
Examine synopses of the
FutureWatch 2003 survey's key
revelations.
a new baseline for annual
Trend Analysis
industry intelligence from
Drill down to discover the critical
trends emerging among planners
and suppliers.
MPI, replacing the less-
Additional Survey Data
Pivotal data points for planners
and suppliers are presented in
easy-to-follow graph and pie
chart formats.
Background
comprehensive Meetings
Outlook Surveys conducted
in 2000 and 2001. ▲
Take a closer look at how the
FutureWatch 2003 survey was
conducted.
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Summaryof significant findings
n 2003, the aggregate economic size of the meeting
industry in the United States, Canada and Europe is
not expected to change.
In the “no surprises” category, the overall size of the
meeting industry will not change significantly, with meeting
planners’ expectations of budget size, venue selection and
number of meetings projected in 2003 statistically
equivalent to actual 2002 figures.
There is a major divergence, however,
between projected meeting planner
spending and supplier revenues in
2003, as well as projected growth in
numbers of meetings.
In total, planners and suppliers are
more than 7 percentage points apart in
projected revenues vs. projected spend,
and 5 percentage points apart in the
estimated number of meetings in 2003
vs. actual number of meetings held in
2002.
What does this mean for the industry?
There likely will be a greater commoditization as meeting planning becomes
more of a price-based model and
suppliers become even more driven to
capture greater market share.
In 2003, a shift continues in the
responsibilities of planners and
suppliers to prove the value of
meetings.
For a long time, the meeting industry
was a seller’s market, with the burden on
planners to prove value in meeting
location and venue decisions. In a post9/11 world of uncertainty and instability,
the tables are turned. No longer are
planners or the organizations they plan
for willing to take economic risk through
inflexible attrition or cancellation clauses.
Suppliers now must bear a larger burden
by proving the value of their offering and
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absorbing more of the economic risk.
Planners want greater assurance that their
meeting business commitment will not
result in overwhelming loss in the case of
catastrophe.
In 2003, use of and investment in
technology by suppliers and
planners will continue to increase
substantially and reshape how
industry business is conducted.
Suppliers and planners will continue
to increase their reliance on the Internet
for information distribution and
bookings, with suppliers investing
substantially in customer relationship
management (CRM) technology, training
and staff in 2003. This will lessen in
greater degrees their reliance on face-toface networking and traditional personal
interaction when marketing and selling.
In 2003, independent planners will
hold more of the purse strings, with
projections for larger budgets than
their traditionally better funded
corporate counterparts.
Downsizing has indeed led to a shift
in who has the biggest budgets, with
independent planners gaining a
significant lead over corporate planners
in overall average spending planned for
2003.
In 2003, more meeting business
opportunities will emerge for
suppliers in emerging, nontraditional meeting markets.
As budgets remain tight and businesstravel budget restrictions continue, some
meeting planners will continue to look
for less expensive, regional alternatives to
higher-priced, high-profile destinations. ▲
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Substantiated by the facts
he year 2002 was a challenging transitional one for the
global meeting industry. In 2003, the evolution continues
as planners and suppliers collaborate to use the lessons
of the past year to shape the meeting industry’s next
generation.
This study’s most notable economic finding is a
prediction of statistically insignificant changes to meeting
planner budgets from 2002 to 2003 as planners project a
1.1 percent decline, with geographies differing slightly.
Canadian planners, while reporting the lowest average
annual budgets at nearly USD$1.57 million
(approximately CDN$2.4 million), expect the highest
budget growth at 3.8 percent. European planners report
the highest average annual budgets at just under $4
million (approximately E 3.9 million) and predict a 2.9
percent budget increase. In the United States, meeting
planners project an average 1.7 percent decline and
control average annual budgets of $3.3 million.
In addition, in 2003, planners who
categorize themselves as independent now lead the
average budget category with more than
$4.8 million in annual spending, nearly
$800,000 above corporate planners, with
consultants following at $3 million.
However, while planners overall
project a decline—albeit a small one—in
budgets, there will be great pressure to
close a significant gap as overall meeting
suppliers are hoping for an increase in
2003 revenues of more than 6 percent.
Canadian suppliers are the most
aggressive, with a projected 8.3 percent
increase, followed by their U.S. colleagues
at 5.8 percent and European suppliers at
2.9 percent. In addition, suppliers are
predicting a 6 % increase in the number
of meetings they hold in 2003 vs. 2002
while planners are projecting a 1.1
percent increase.
This further exerts pressure on
suppliers to provide products and services
at lower prices by fostering more heated
competition between properties,
venues and destinations. The continued
swing to a buyer’s market means
suppliers now have a greater burden to
provide value to meeting attendees. ▲
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Trend analysis
he recent global economic downturn and
changes in business travel policies after 9/11
have also impacted the fundamentals of
business relationships between meeting
suppliers and planners. Altered company
policies in response to new economic and
political factors have many planners losing
flexibility in budgets, contract provisions, lead times and
destination choices.
The inability to accept broad provisos due to stricter
corporate guidelines—combined with destinations attempting
to capture more business—will keep the highly deliberated
topic of cancellation and attrition clauses up for debate in
2003. Interestingly, suppliers have placed a relatively low
priority (fourth place out of four options) on becoming less
stringent with cancellation and attrition clauses, instead
focusing on more flexible pricing, additional incentives and
personal service to better help planners in 2003. Planners,
however, rate relaxation of cancellation and attrition practices as
the second most significant operational trend in 2003.
Planners’ increased use of the Internet to window shop for
venues and destinations—projected to increase a whopping 23
percent in 2003—will marginally diminish meeting suppliers’
influence over planners’ initial impressions of their offerings.
However, planners’ expectations to increase actual Internet
bookings of meetings rose disproportionately by only
5 percent.
Companies that supply technology to the meeting industry
should be happy to hear that suppliers chose multiple technology
categories in which they were planning improvements, including
81 percent of suppliers saying they would invest in Web site
improvements. The development of online booking systems also
received a nod from 47 percent of suppliers.
T
Key takeaways
In 2003, as the threat of commoditization
and a desire for less
stringent cancellation and
attrition clauses.
success. Meanwhile, suppliers
must be more competitive
due to revenue targets that exceed
budgeted meeting spend. Amid proven
growth in emerging markets, the
emergence of new technologies and the
looms, planner/supplier collaboration will be
critical to the meeting industry’s
Planners face more restrictions
against taking financial risks, not only
because of overall tight budgets, but
also due to limitations in travel options
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transfer of sales and marketing to
nonverbal tools, planners and suppliers
will recognize a greater need to
differentiate themselves. As a result, the
meeting industry could endure
increased commoditization and less
human interaction between buyer
and seller.
These critical meeting industry
changes ultimately reflect the end users
of these services. Budget and staff cuts
have created more impersonal
organizations that have been forced to
uncover cost-effective solutions to
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This transition to more electronic marketing and
sales will further impact the balance of responsibility
for value validation because suppliers will transfer
some of their responsibilities for outbound market
presence from people who work with people to people
who work with computers. With less human
interaction, suppliers ultimately must possess a better
awareness of what questions need to be answered and
where flexibility may be needed in order to secure
business.
Opportunities for less traditional meeting venues
and destinations may be significant if suppliers can
apply the proper strategies to inform, attract and retain
the essential meeting planners and attendees. Primary
markets will remain the mainstay of the 2003 meeting
industry, but the percentage of planners
(9 percent) who plan to increase
focus on secondary, regional and
domestic markets could have a
major impact on some of those
markets. Some planner
respondents noted that some
smaller and more local venues are
less available, leading them to
attempt tougher negotiations with
primary markets.
Regarding actual venue usage,
most 2003 U.S. and Canadian
meeting planner budgets will be
split between city and resort hotels.
In Europe, the majority will be split
between city hotels and
convention centers. ▲
organizational and managerial
challenges, mostly through the
deployment of more technological
enhancements. Just as the meeting
industry is moving toward more
impersonal communications, so are the
consumers of meeting products and
services.
Expect the deeper commitment
toward more Web-based services to
further evolve the relationship
planner/supplier in 2003 and beyond,
decreasing personal contact and
transferring some marketing and sales
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responsibility. Beyond forcing suppliers
to substantially differentiate and market
themselves in a Web-ified dominated
world, less interaction between planners
and suppliers may reduce the need
for—or the amount of—sales and
marketing staff on the supplier side.
In addition, if anyone can go online to
book a meeting, what will that mean for
meeting planners’ roles? As more of
meeting services are handled by
purchasing managers or procurement
staff whose job it is to get the best
price, the relationship-based, face-to-
face, personalization model that forms the
meeting industry’s foundation may erode.
Clearly, now is the time for meeting
professionals on both sides of the
business to work together, developing
solutions that will elucidate the value of
interpersonal communication and
minimize potential barriers in the
industry. The commoditization of
booking consumer travel through the
Internet and the subsequent breakdown
of the travel agent business model is
great evidence of support for this
petition. ▲
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$4.8 million
in 2003, planners who categorize themselves as
independent now lead the average budget category
with more than $4.8 million in annual spending.
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Additional survey data
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Background
n late October 2002, Dallas-based Meeting Professionals International (MPI), in partnership with American Express, conducted
FutureWatch 2003 to gather key facts and comment on meeting industry trends and indicators in 2003 and beyond. The survey
response sample was drawn from MPI’s membership, the single-best collective of professional meeting planners and suppliers in
the world. Association Insights, an independent market research firm, was contracted to conduct this study.
FutureWatch 2003 emerged as an evolution of the Meetings Outlook Survey of 2000 and 2001, which, with 300 and 446
respondents, respectively,
surveyed only U.S. planners
and focused on more
traditional findings such as
projected number of meetings
planned, geographical
preferences, lead times and
meeting content.
In an effort to underscore
sweeping changes occurring in
the meeting industry,
FutureWatch 2003 delivers the
first-ever, highly critical
supplier-side perspectives, as
well as data from Canadian and
European MPI member
communities to ensure a more
global, all-encompassing
report. It features spend and
revenue projections and
uncovers several emerging megatrends. The survey garnered
2,470 respondents, of which 54 percent
were planners and 46 percent were suppliers.
Methodology: MPI sent e-mail invitations to
15,578 association members in the United States,
Canada and Europe, 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 challenges, uses of technology and more for 2003.
Participation: For the first time, industry planners and suppliers, as well as MPI members from Canada and Europe, were invited to
participate in this groundbreaking research. More than 13 percent of MPI supplier members (1,130) and 18 percent of MPI planner
members (1,340) offered information regarding their businesses in 2002 and their projections for 2003. The following chart
summarizes the survey participation rates for each segment in each country. ▲
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