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Internal meetings are anticipated to proceed to considerably drive growth throughout the meetings and occasions industry in 2024. This is primarily pushed by organizations looking for to construct relationships and join their distributed workforces in response to the thirteenth Annual Global Meetings and Events Forecast, produced by American Express GBT Meetings & Events.
The 2024 Forecast surveyed greater than 500 meetings and occasions professionals from around the globe, with extra commentary from greater than a dozen industry leaders. Meetings professionals count on inside meetings to see the strongest growth of all assembly sorts, with 48% of respondents predicting extra attendees subsequent yr.
Additional highlights from the 2024 Forecast embody:
- 28% say applications have already met or exceeded pre-pandemic attendee ranges and 42% count on to achieve that aim in 2024.
- 72% of assembly planners count on lead instances in 2024 to be the identical or shorter.
- Only 25% stated they had been probably or very prone to search for a job throughout the subsequent yr; of these, greater than 65% plan to remain in the identical industry – additional proof that assembly professionals stay bullish about the way forward for the industry.
Gerardo Tejado, SVP, Professional Services, Amex GBT, stated: “With more distributed workforces than ever, companies are re-evaluating the importance of internal interactions for team cohesion, productivity, creativity, engagement, employee welfare. It’s never been clearer that in-person meetings and interactions are irreplaceable, with face-to-face connections and building relationships serving as cornerstones of personal and professional success. Our Forecast indicates that 2024 will be a dynamic year – not only are budgets and attendee numbers rising, but we’re also seeing technology adoption accelerating dramatically.”
Distributed Workforce Models Accelerate Internal In-Person Meetings
A majority of respondents stated meetings and occasions subsequent yr can be both totally in-person (59%) or hybrid (20%) – with the remaining 21% digital. With many organizations embracing hybrid and distant working fashions, the function of meetings and occasions in bringing distributed groups collectively is amplified and the worth of face-to-face interactions continues to develop.
Internal meetings and buyer advisory boards are on observe to see the largest improve, with 42% of respondents saying there will probably be extra of each sorts of meetings subsequent yr, adopted by incentives (38%), small and easy meetings, product launches, and senior management meetings (37% every), conferences with commerce reveals (35%), and conferences with out commerce reveals (30%).
According to Amex GBT’s Hotel Monitor 2024, resort charges will probably proceed to rise in most areas globally throughout 2024, and meetings and occasions are anticipated to exchange the diminishing demand of leisure journey.
Technology is Bridging the Gap
Technology is predicted to make main modifications in the best way assembly professionals do their jobs, together with vacation spot analysis, occasion communication, and registration automation. Artificial intelligence (AI) is more and more used for customized attendee communications; 42% of respondents say they count on to make use of AI in 2024. Mobile apps proceed to be a staple in meetings and occasions, with a predicted utilization fee of over 60%. Meeting professionals are additionally persevering with to experiment with digital actuality applied sciences, with 41% of respondents anticipating to make use of it subsequent yr.
Tejado stated: ”Meeting planners should harness the obtainable instruments successfully through the use of expertise for process automation, revising assembly program insurance policies to accelerate funds approvals, and integrating enterprise and meetings journey.”
Sustainability Adoption Still Continues to Rise
Most assembly professionals (78%) stated their organizations would have web zero objectives by the tip of 2024. However, that doesn’t occur with no few challenges famous from respondents, together with figuring out licensed suppliers (39%), funds (35%), measuring impression and put up occasion CO2 calculation (32%), discovering areas with minimal journey (28%), and lack of expertise/sources/information (23%).
GLOBAL VIEW: THE REGIONAL OUTLOOK
There are regional variations in what the industry can count on within the upcoming yr.
NORTH AMERICA
Meeting professionals in North America say they’re heading into the following yr feeling busy, engaged, and enthusiastic about new applied sciences. They imagine their career is in fine condition: 84% stated they might rank themselves as 8 or larger on a scale of 1 to 10 when requested how optimistic they had been concerning the well being of the industry. 77% of respondents say attendee numbers have already returned to 2019 ranges or will accomplish that in 2024. The components most certainly to impression attendee numbers are price, and well being and security issues.
Europe
European assembly professionals count on modest will increase in exercise subsequent yr in comparison with respondents in North America and Latin America. Internal meetings will proceed to play an necessary function in European assembly applications. Respondents stated 52% can be held at a resort, 48% would require in a single day lodging, and 46% will probably be held in a distinct metropolis than the company workplace. Perhaps not surprisingly, the area has the bottom share of anticipated home air journey for attendees, at 33%.
Asia Pacific
Compared to different areas, Asia Pacific is main the best way with organizations which have already set company web zero objectives – at 63%. Some 67% of respondents in Asia Pacific say that sustainability has been strongly adopted of their meetings applications; 74% say sustainability could be very or extraordinarily necessary for his or her group.
Latin America
Meeting professionals count on resort room availability to remain the identical in 2024 and anticipate extra assembly area availability. Location availability is a priority for nearly half (48%) of respondents.
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