Meeting planners will plan more meetings — and spend more on those meetings — in 2013, according to Meeting Professionals International (MPI), which yesterday released the annual version of its bi-monthly "Business Barometer" featuring predictions for the year ahead.
According to MPI's forecast, the number of meetings in the United States, Canada and Europe will rise by 2.8 percent, 3.3 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively, in 2012. Meeting budgets, meanwhile, will increase 1 percent, 0.1 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.
MPI said this data and other key findings in the report — including information about meetings industry trends, technology, careers and salaries — will help senior executives plan 2013 budgets while giving meeting planners a sense of the industry's direction.
"The big difference between the annual and bi-monthly Business Barometer is the annual barometer serves the entire membership to give a comprehensive look at our industry," said MPI COO and interim CEO Cindy D'Aoust. "MPI's goal is to support our international membership of suppliers and meeting planners and this report will provide every member data and tools to be successful."