Thanks to the lingering effects of the Eurozone debt crisis, it’s been a tough year for Europe. And yet, the European meetings industry appears to be optimistic, finds the latest edition of Reed Travel Exhibitions’ (RTE) IBTM Global Meetings Industry Research, published this week at the European Incentive, Business Travel & Meetings Exhibition (EIBTM) in Barcelona.
Conducted by RTE’s Incentive, Business Travel & Meetings (IBTM) Portfolio, the EIBTM report found that:
• Ninety-three percent of European buyers predict that the meetings and events business in Europe will either increase or stay the same over the next 12 months, up from 86 percent in the last 12 months.
• Ninety-three percent of European suppliers predict that the volume of meetings in Europe will increase or stay the same over the next 12 months; another 57 percent believe buyers are looking to place business in a new destination next year.
• Buyers’ top 10 countries for events in Europe, by volume, are: Spain, Italy, Switzerland, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Netherlands and Turkey.
• The percentage of European buyers holding events outside Europe are: Asia (35 percent), Americas (43 percent), Africa (19 percent) and the Middle East (32 percent).
• Among global buyers, 21 percent report an increase in European attendees over the last 12 months and just 14 percent a decrease; 65 percent say European attendance is the same.
• A majority (65 percent) of respondents use social media to communicate before, during or after meetings, and 42 percent of meeting planners are now handing out smartphones or tablets for use during conferences.
“The research illustrates just how strong the flow of inbound and outbound business is for Europe, with the impact of economic problems in the Eurozone and elsewhere in recent years beginning to wane,” says Sally Greenhill of The Right Solution Ltd., who presented the research at EIBM. “For the first time in recent years, the survey predicts that the global economy will not impact conference business in the next 12 months.”