Cvent Study Reveals Millennial Meeting Planner Sourcing Habits

LONDON, UK – May 26, 2015 - Research from Cvent, Inc., a leading cloud-based enterprise event management platform, recently surveyed more than 800 meeting planners to understand the generational differences between meeting planners' sourcing behaviors as millennials rise in the meetings industry. The study found that millennials value the venue's cost as most influential, while members of older generations value the venue's customer service department when sourcing their next meeting location.

Millennial meeting planners are generally flexible when sourcing a venue to host their next event. The survey results uncovered that venue cost was the top reason why planners often switch locations. A 3-5 percent discount would convince up to 17 percent of millennials to choose their second choice over their first. Other top reasons millennial meeting planners switch venues included:

  • Customer service (22 percent)
  • Size and adequacy of space (20 percent)
  • Availability of dates (12 percent)
  • Bad experience with booking (10 percent)

"As the next generation of meeting planners rises in the work place, hotels and event venues need to better understand their behaviors to close more group business," said Kevin Fliess, vice president of product marketing at Cvent. "It is clear from the survey findings that both the influx of millennial planners and advances in event planning processes and technologies are changing how hotels compete for lucrative group business."

Millennials prefer a transactional experience

Venue sourcing is often a multi-day process that involves various touch-points and interactions between the venue and planner. Millennials were 37 percent less likely to source directly through a venue when compared to their older generation industry peers, indicating that the new generation of meeting planners value the convenience and simplicity of an event management platform during the process.

This new digital generation prefers to source directly at scale. 25 percent of millennial planners are more likely than older generations to report that negotiations are the most difficult part of sourcing a venue, indicating an aversion to one-on-one interactions and a preference for a transactional experience, while Generation X and Baby boomers showed a much higher willingness to negotiate.

About the survey

Cvent surveyed a total of 842 meeting planners in three days. Among those polled, 71 percent sourced meetings on behalf of their company, 17 percent were association planners and 11 percent were third-party planners. Generation X planners (35-52 year olds) represented the largest demographic of event planners with 43 percent of the surveyed audience. Millennial or Generation Y planners (18-34 year olds) were the second largest segment, comprising of 41 percent of respondents. The Baby boomer generation represented 53-64 year olds surveyed. The 2015 Planner Sourcing Report was designed to provide venues with the insights needed to close more group business. The executive summary can be downloaded here.

About Cvent

Cvent is a leading meetings, events, and hospitality technology provider with 4,800+ employees and ~22,000 customers worldwide as of December 31, 2023. Founded in 1999, the company delivers a comprehensive event marketing and management platform and offers a global marketplace where event professionals collaborate with venues to create engaging, impactful experiences. Cvent is headquartered in Tysons, Virginia, just outside of Washington D.C., and has additional offices around the world to support its growing global customer base. The comprehensive Cvent event marketing and management platform offers software solutions to event organizers and marketers for online event registration, venue selection, event marketing and management, virtual and onsite solutions, and attendee engagement. Cvent’s suite of products automate and simplify the event management lifecycle and maximize the impact of in-person, virtual, and hybrid events. Hotels and venues use Cvent’s supplier and venue solutions to win more group and corporate travel business through Cvent’s sourcing platforms. Cvent solutions optimize the event management value chain and have enabled clients around the world to manage millions of meetings and events. For more information, please visit Cvent.com