Optimism Fuels the Industry

First Posted Novmber 20, 2009

Let’s face it, if our meetings and travel industry is not optimistic, then the Canadian economy is in a pretty bad state of affairs. There is a small mountain of recent research that demonstrates the power and ROI of business events as a key driver for generating and retaining business. If we are not optimistic about our future, then who is?

The following industry and non-industry recent research can help you demonstrate the power and value of business events:

1) The recently released Canadian Economic Impact Study Update (CEIS) provides concrete economic data about the meetings industry for 2006, 2007 and 2008. Overall, the data shows that our industry was very stable over these three years and generated billions in industry output and hundreds of thousands of full-time equivalent jobs. The Executive Summary can be downloaded at www.mpiweb.org/foundation
2) Forbes 2009: Business Meetings, The Case for Face-to-Face Study is rich with data. Overall executives surveyed prefer face-to-face meetings when the decision-making process was fluid, requiring the kind of give-and-take typical of complex decisions and sales. To download the study from MeetingsCanada.com click here.

3) The U.S. Travel Association, in conjunction with Oxford Economics, has, for the first time, established a direct monetary link between business travel and profit. One key finding is that for every dollar invested in business travel, companies realize $12.50 in incremental revenue. To download the study from MeetingsCanada.com click here.

4) There are many additional studies such as EventView, FutureWatch, MPI’s Business Barometer, European Tourism Trends & Prospects and the American Express Global Business Travel Forecast, to name a few more. Check out www.meetingsmeanbusiness.org for more industry research on this topic.

Being in the industry we obviously can see the value of business events, but it is studies like these that help corroborate and substantiate our claims that meetings really do mean business. When you speak about our industry, make sure your glass is half full, not half empty; we have a lot to be optimistic about.