Sourcing bells, sourcing bells, sourcing all the way! Did you know 70% of planners are actively booking or venue sourcing right now? The holiday season comes with a lot of extra planning – from travel to holiday parties, no event planner is standing still.
As the 2022 calendar year comes to an end, we’re excited to share key findings on planner sentiments and priorities in the latest December Northstar/Cvent Meetings Industry PULSE Survey.
Takeaways: More Meetings and Events in 2023
Event planners in North America and the rest of the world are busier than ever heading into the new year. We found that 77% of planners are feeling very optimistic about the future of 2023 meetings and events, and 67% are anticipating planning and producing more meetings in 2023 compared to 2022.
With sourcing and booking volumes reaching all-time highs, utilizing venue sourcing technology like the Cvent Supplier Network will help to simplify the sourcing process, giving you optimal access to a centralized venue sourcing network to discover the perfect venue, while also providing recommended and trusted vendors. With over 290,000 global venues to choose from, the Cvent Supplier Network is your one-stop shop for all sourcing and vendor needs to create and execute a successful event.
It seems the days of planning events around COVID-19 guidelines are officially over, with 72% of planners saying COVID-19 is not impacting their current or future planning. Planners no longer need to worry about tables being six feet apart or designing event set-ups to meet safety regulations.
Finally, planners are back to maximizing their event spaces, bringing their true event visions to life. Cvent's Photo-realistic 3D technology will allow you to take virtual site tours without needing to travel to the venue so you can showcase your event set-up to stakeholders to get feedback in real-time and visualize your event space with realistic details to ensure it will meet your exact needs.
Bigger Budgets with Fewer Attendees
Another key finding is that 61% of planners are increasing budgets to adjust to rising event costs due to inflation, and they are also expecting fewer in-person attendees to attend their event. It’s more important than ever to anticipate and forecast in-person attendees to save money. If your event requires room blocks, room block management software like Passkey can help you track pick-up and limit attrition penalties.
We found that 41% of planners expect lower in-person attendance levels in 2023 than in 2022. With virtual and hybrid event formats still available, some attendees might feel more inclined to tune into the event at their convenience.
As one planner stated, “Attendance is still our single biggest issue with our return to face-to-face.” So, what can be done to help planners increase attendance rates at events? Leverage event technology to market your in-person event to the right attendees so you attract a larger audience and manage their experience.
Planner Satisfaction Improves, but Pain Points Persist
Planner satisfaction with hotels is up for the first time since June – ranking 3.41 out of 5, up from 3.31 in our prior report. However, key pain points still persist. We found that 51% of planners are still experiencing difficulties with a lack of hotel staffing; however, this statistic is down from 54%.
Hotels are responding to RFPs at faster rates, and only 43% of planners are saying hotels are slow to respond to RFPs, which is also down four points from October. Communication between the planner and supplier remains critical, helping to streamline collaboration and communication with venue sourcing technology, which allows you to send bids to multiple venues so you can ensure you are choosing the right venue that aligns with your goals and is easy to communicate with.
Conclusion
Overall, our survey results show that the future of 2023 meetings and events looks very promising. We hope these results are useful to you as your plan your total event program for the 2023 calendar year.
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