Cautious Optimism for Meetings

In the first half of 2024, 21 of the top 25 largest hotel markets had higher group demand for meetings than last year, according to CoStar Analytics. 

That’s good news. But take a broader view and far fewer markets have topped 2019 levels. Just five have done so: Tampa; Orlando; Dallas; Nashville; and Las Vegas. (Group rooms are those sold in increments of 10 or more, according to CoStar.)

A Deloitte report from July states that conferences, trade shows, and exhibitions are playing a big role in travel growth. More than six in 10 business travelers expect to attend at least one in 2024.

A quarter of travel managers say that meeting attendance was the biggest driver of travel growth in 2023 and expect that to continue in 2024. Half rank conferences among the top two growth drivers. Six in 10 travelers say they expect to travel for a conference in 2024, significantly ahead of all other trip types, in terms of number of travelers, according to the Deloitte report.

Meetings Growth

Event volume has remained steady in 2024 compared to 2023. Data from meeting intelligence provider Knowland, shows there was a 5% increase in U.S. event volume in July from a year earlier. In the second quarter, estimated attendees were up 23% and space usage was up an average of 28%. 

“We are seeing meetings get bigger and slightly longer,” said Jeff Bzdawka, CEO at Knowland. 

For Hilton’s second quarter, meetings and events were a standout. “For the full year, we will globally see growth in all segments,” said Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta. “It will be very, very low in leisure transient, but positive; a little bit higher on business transient, and then very, very strong for meetings and events.”

Business Travel Spending Expected to Hit a Record High

Global business travel spending is expected to reach a record $1.48 trillion by the end of 2024. This is an increase from 2019 spending, which was $1.43 trillion, according to the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) annual global report and forecast that was just released.

By 2028, it is predicted that global business travel spending will exceed $2 trillion. Despite these numbers, when adjusted for inflation, spending levels remain behind pre-pandemic highs.

Inflation, China’s slower recovery, geopolitical tensions, industry workforce challenges, and natural disasters are all headwinds.

Growth is expected to continue to gradually moderate, resulting in an annual compound growth rate of 6.95% from 2025 to 2028.

Recovery of business travel was not the same across all regions. Asia Pacific was the fastest-growing region in 2023 (36%), followed by Eastern Europe (33%) and North America (25%).

This year, China and the U.S. are anticipated to lead as the top two markets for overall business travel spending.

The most common purpose of travel among all business travelers was to attend meetings, seminars and training, followed by conventions.