The events industry is grappling with booking hesitancy, high costs, restless attendees and other challenges. Photo Credit: AdobeStock/pasakorn
Compressed booking lead times, increased costs for food, beverage and AV services and the need to be more flexible with attrition rates are pressing issues for the industry.
This is according to findings from a recent PCMA webinar, titled The Future is Booking Fast, which examined trends related to shifting booking patterns, evolving attendee expectations and ongoing economic pressures. The panel featured representatives from agencies, associations and hotels.
If you build it, will they come?
There is continued hesitancy around groups committing to long-term, multi-year bookings. Alyssa Petty, director, global sales strategy at IHG Hotels & Resorts said that while demand for events is healthy, the same does not apply to predicting the course of future events. Planners are minimising risk as much as possible and controlling what they can.
“With this unpredictability, first you plan the events, then you make sure they’re coming,” she said. “Event planners are doing a lot more internal work to hit [hotel] room block goals and food and beverage minimums before they enter into agreements with hotels.”
Peter Green, senior vice president/team director, at Conference Direct said the agency’s short-term bookings are ‘off the charts’, and that higher costs - particularly in AV and food and beverage, are negatively impacting the booking of events further ahead.
The event is bigger than the meeting
Instagrammable moments, memorable experiences and wellness offerings are increasingly driving attendance at meetings and events. Companies are being much more intentional about their meetings and events and they want that time to count. Choice of destination is also becoming increasingly important - people who used to have the same meeting at the same hotel or in the same city are now considering alternate choices, because those who attend year after year are craving new experiences.
“It's increasing the propensity for rotational schedules, so that people are not being asked to go back to the same destination year after year, and this rotation helps to keep the event interesting and engaging,” said Petty.
Be more flexible with attrition rates
Cathy Sharpe, director, global sales strategy at IHG Hotels & Resorts said moving event dates is financially difficult and that buyers need more flexibility with regards to attrition rates.
“We put a lot of time into recognising where the pitfalls are with international travellers, whether they need visas for example,” she said. “Flexibility with attrition is a key component.”
Green encouraged planners to build several review dates into contracts, whether it’s 90 days, or 120 days, to assess numbers and what, if anything, needs adjusting closer to the time.
Food for thought
Are F&B minimums impacting the delegate rate? For example, if groups are looking to lower their F&B costs, are hotels only willing to do this with a higher room rate? IHG’s Petty said that everything is negotiable but it’s important to remember that hotels have perishable inventory.
“If it’s not sold, you can’t hang on to it and sell it tomorrow,” she said. “There's only so much meeting space and so many hotels, and costs are increasing for hotels too. In the same way that [planners] are struggling with higher transportation and airfare costs, our hotels are struggling with higher energy bills and food costs.”
Less is more for attendees
Green reflected on how exhibition halls are increasingly being used for ‘double duty’.
“The idea of communities is driving this shift,” he said. “People will attend in person if they're going to be with people they want to be with. We’re seeing much more interest with interactions, activations, and fewer general sessions. People don't want to just sit and listen to a mouthpiece at the front of the stage.”
Exhibition halls are being used in more innovative ways; rather than simply housing standard booths, companies are using the space to host all of their food and beverage sessions.
“We’re seeing breakfasts, lunch, coffee breaks and receptions located in the exhibit hall, alongside activations and sponsor talks hosted on micro-stages in the hall,” said Green.