Although its members organized more meetings in 2010 than they did in 2009, those meetings on average had fewer attendees and less square footage, according to the International Association of Professional Congress Organizers (IAPCO), which yesterday released the results of its annual member survey, indicating a slow recovery of the economy worldwide.
According to the survey, the number of association, government and corporate meetings organized by IAPCO members grew in 2010, reaching more than 6,100: The number of association meetings rose from 2,102 in 2009 to 2,153 in 2010; the number of government meetings from 399 to 498; and the number of corporate meetings from 3,140 to 3,454. Although growth was both domestic and international for government and corporate meetings, it was primarily international for association meetings, as the number of international association meetings rose from 819 in 2009 to 905 in 2010 while the number of domestic association meetings declined from 1,283 to 1,248.
"As you know, we had a very good anticipated year for 2009, despite the economic downturn, because the association business does not follow the same timelines as those of the corporate one," said IAPCO President Philippe Fournier. "Because of their structure, memberships and long-term events schedules, associations do not react in the same way of delaying activities until times of recovering. And although the current figures show an increase in international business undertaken during 2010, it still remains less than before due to this same 'time' reason. We had, however, an interesting year where we could see a re-boost of our international business in every sector."
Although the total number of attendees at IAPCO members' meetings rose from 2.11 million in 2009 to 2.24 million in 2010, the average number of attendees per meeting fell from 375 to 368.
Also down was square footage: Cumulatively, IAPCO members handled 1.79 million square feet in 2010, down from 1.8 million in 2009; per meeting, meanwhile, average square footage per meeting fell from 322 square feet in 2009 to 292 square feet in 2010.
Despite declines in attendance and square footage, IAPCO members reported increases in budgets; together, IAPCO members' managed budgets increased from $2 billion in 2009 to $2.2 billion in 2010, while their economic impact increased from $4.9 billion to $5.2 billion.