Welcome to our eighth annual meetings and events trends report
We have probed into the trends that will frame meetings and events (M&E) in 2020 and examined how global and regional marketplaces are evolving, to inspire you and keep your M&E program always a step ahead.
The industry is experiencing steady growth amid an outlook of rising average air and hotel prices, with future expansion expected in the emerging markets of India and China.
Rapid innovations in technology are supporting greater engagement and data capture in events, while strategic meetings management programs have evolved from a focus on costs savings to creating value for attendees.
A strong desire in attendees to experience authenticity is trending across events from training to incentive travel, while our research and case studies highlight what trends will shape M&E programs in the coming year.
We hope you will be inspired and excited by the opportunities for your meetings and events in 2020 and beyond.
Derek Sharp
Senior Vice President and Managing Director,
CWT Meetings & Events
The future of … global meetings & events
Explore the opportunities and challenges for the meetings & events industry in 2020 and beyond
Globally, the meetings and events industry is estimated at $840 billion, and growing. It is a time of rapid innovation in technology, economic investment, and advances in sustainability. While we see some signs of economic uncertainty around some major European markets, causing a contracting of lead times, the potential instability caused by the UK's exit from the EU is heightening as the divorce date approaches at the end of October; however, overall there is steady growth.
The bigger markets such as the US, Europe and Asia are driving most of that demand, and it is expected emerging markets, such as India and China, will see more dramatic growth in the years to come as they continue to be brought into centrally-managed programs, especially with populations motivated by travel, events and training.
The overall growth trajectory in the meetings and events industry is rising at a steady 8% rate, which is encouraging.
Derek Sharp, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, CWT Meetings & Events
"With increasing recognition of the crucial role that meetings and events play in the success of a business, attention is being paid to overall spend," says Derek Sharp, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, CWT Meetings & Events. “We expect significant growth in the next five to ten years in supporting multinational companies needing services in those markets which have a huge untapped potential,” he forecasts.
Ian Cummings, Vice President, EMEA, CWT Meetings & Events, adds that companies have realized the way to cut through all the social media noise is to hold face-to-face events. “We see approximately 25-30% of overall marketing budgets being spent on live events,” he says.
