Claire Jenkins - Market Review
The UK Conference Market Survey, launched during National Meetings Week by the MIA has revealed that there was a 27% increase in the volume of its corporate event business upon last year; the most significant increase in the industry since 1999.
Events for the association sector have seen a slight rise of 1.4% upon last year. Although what is more notable is the increase in the associations sector average spend per meeting, which has risen by 22% upon last year, up from £39 per day delegate rate to £47.40 per day delegate rate in 2007.
I’m amazed by this great news because it demonstrates high levels of business growth in the industry and should be a cause for us all to have more confidence in our market. My own opinion, formed by keeping in touch with many people in all sectors of the industry, is that there has been a more concentrated approach towards PR and marketing activity and this is paying off in terms of increased sales.
I was also interested to note another significant development. For the first time this year, the survey included questions about the influence of CSR when booking meetings and events. And the results are that CSR is already greatly influencing some aspects of event bookings and 77% predicted that CSR will become even more of an influence over the next 10 years. If you’ve not started down the road to CSR yet, now is the time to put it on your agenda.
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