Meeting Planners Navigate Rising Costs and Shifting Work Models

A new survey from Future Partners reveals the state of the meetings and conventions industry – as well as planners’ biggest concerns.

“The skyrocketing cost of AV and tech, plus the incredibly high catering costs are a major challenge,” according to one corporate meeting planner who participated in the survey. “Also, the consolidation of brands in the hotel industry is a major problem as the seller’s market worsens.”

The lack of flexibility in negotiating contract terms also concerns this planner.

Future Partners surveyed  400 corporate and association meeting planners.  

Results showed that 39.6% are back in the office full-time. A slightly larger number, 41.3%, work hybrid while just one in five work remote.

From a generational standpoint, Millennial planners are most likely to be in the office full-time (48.5%) while Gen Xers are most likely to be working remote (26.2%).

Booking Windows Shorten

Booking windows continue to be shorter, with the typical planner sourcing venues 0.8 years in advance of the event date, compared to the average of 1.3 years last year.

Planners say attendees are registering for events 3.4 months in advance and booking their lodging 2.9 months out on average, with little change compared to the previous study. Of those, 19% are registering and booking accommodations less than 1 month out from the event.

Nearly two-thirds of planners surveyed said they expect destination safety to increase in importance (64.8%). That is followed closely by anticipated increases in client/meetings budgets (64.3%), likely to keep pace with the rise in costs.

Planners are most optimistic about the improvement of service quality (59%) and staffing levels (56.3%) at hotels and meeting venues.

Over half (52.5%) expect their ability to negotiate with hotels to improve in the coming year, while 15.5% said they expect this to worsen.

There is genuine concern about organizations’ willingness to send attendees if costs are too high, or if hotels will not meet the requirements of their clients.

Politics Influence Meetings Destination Choice

Just under half of planners said that controversial issues, such as state or local laws, have caused them to reconsider a destination for their meetings in 2024. 

The most common issues that prompted destination reconsideration in 2024 were racial equality concerns (51.8%), gender equality concerns (47.7%), general political reputation (47.2%), and social unrest (46.2%).

Looking at the top 10 destination attributes, over three-fourths of planners said the overall quality of hotels (78%) and/or meeting facilities (77.5%) are important, followed closely by a safe environment (77%) and the geographic location of the destination (75.0%).

Meeting Planners Increasingly Using AI

The majority of planners are using AI tools to help learn more about destinations. “Last year, when we first queried planners about the use of AI tools like ChatGPT, many had not yet explored its functionality for professional reasons, but now well over half say they often turn to AI tools for inspiration and to summarize information,” said Myha Gallagher, vice president of research, Future Partners.

“In addition, last year planners were buzzing about the potential incorporation of AR/VR technologies into their meeting programs to engage younger attendees who are growing in volume as their Baby Boomer counterparts enter retirement. This year, we asked directly how this trend may change in the next three years and a large majority said they expect this to increase,” said Gallagher.