Every month HopSkip analyzes data from around the meeting and events industry to understand trends in the market. HopSkip picks a few of the most relevant trends from research conducted throughout the month and we share those data points to the rest of the community.
Finding #1:
70% of planners expect to resume operating face to face events by Q3 2021.
What this tells us:
Planners are starting to have more clarity on when they will be operating their meetings and events they have scheduled in 2021. The majority of planners (49%) are showing confidence that the middle of 2021 is when they will kick off live events again. We will be keeping an eye on any significant movement in these numbers as we close out 2020.
Finding #2:
Planners scored 3.13 out of 5 when asked “how successful will virtual events be for your constituents?” (1= not at all, 5 being highly likely)
What this tells us:
Planners are pretty torn on the value they see virtual events bringing to their stakeholders. Planners have relayed that virtual events lack the attendee engagement. We do expect to see virtual events be a hybrid option for some planners for the foreseeable future but as you can see close to half of planners don't think virtual events add that much value to their stakeholders.
Finding #3:
60% of planners expect the same level or more of in-person meetings taking place once in-person gatherings are no longer restricted.
What this tells us:
Once the restriction on in-person gatherings is lifted, planners are bullish that the volume of meetings will return back to the levels we once saw…..or even higher.
Finding #4:
62% of planners said ensuring that appropriate contract language is in place is their most common or anticipated pain point when sourcing face to face meetings and events moving forward.
Source: HopSkip
What this tells us:
The contracting phase of the sourcing and booking process for a group or meeting at a hotel is something the majority of planners find challenging, specifically ensuring the right contract language is being used in order to feel confident their organization is protected.