On a scale of 1 to 10, 84% of North American meetings professionals rate their optimism about the health of the meetings industry in 2024 as an 8 or higher.
This statistic stands out from American Express Global Business Travel’s 2024 global meetings and events forecast, but the report also reveals significant challenges for the year ahead.
This wide-ranging forecast is based on a June 2023 survey of more than 500 event professionals in 26 countries and interviews with more than a dozen industry leaders. Topics covered in the 38-page report range from conference spending and attendance trends to program strategy and sustainability, with findings covering global and North American, European, Latin American, and Asia-Pacific regions. Reported by region. This forecast also includes a special section on how event professionals can work more effectively with marketers, based on a separate survey of more than 300 marketers and interviews with marketing leaders. I am.
Below are the results of just four survey questions. His 2024 forecast for cost per participant, Meeting format, technology implementation, and challenges. We primarily focus on results from North American respondents, but the full forecast is available for download. https://www.amexglobalbusinesstravel.com/meetings-events/meetings-forecast From the American Express website.
Cost per attendee
For planning teams who budget based on cost per attendee, American Express’ forecasts provide benchmark numbers for the year ahead. The respondent was asked to estimate her per-person conference cost in 2024 based on the total conference budget divided by the expected number of attendees. For all meetings, including hybrid and virtual meetings, planners were asked to calculate all costs except air travel. This includes accommodations, food and beverages, technology, ground transportation, activities, and other factors.
Not surprisingly, simple meetings have the lowest cost per person, while incentives and special events have the highest cost.
• Incentives/Special Events $871
• Exhibition/Conference with Exhibition $833
• Senior Executive Meeting/Board of Directors Meeting $814
• Exhibition/Conference without Exhibition $785
• Client/Customer Advisory Board $725
• Internal team meeting/training $638
• Product launch (internal/external) $638
• Small/simple meeting $495
Meeting format
By 2024, in-person meetings will be the most common meeting format in all regions of the world, but virtual and hybrid meetings remain strong in the market. In fact, nearly one in five meetings in North America will be held virtually next year.
• Face-to-face: 63%
• Virtual: 19%
• Hybrid: 18%
Asia-Pacific is the only region where the distribution of the three forms is reported to be significantly different. In 2024, only 42 percent of meetings are expected to be in-person, with 29 percent expected to be virtual and 29 percent hybrid.
meeting tech
Respondents were asked which technology they expected to use for meetings and events in 2024. Notably, artificial intelligence is in the top four. This technology was not available to him until November 2022. That’s when ChatGPT, a free and easy-to-use generative AI platform, was launched.
In 2024, North American planners expect to use:
• Mobile app: 65%
• On-site check-in tools: 53%
• QR code: 49%
• Artificial intelligence: 42%
• Virtual reality: 40%
• Wearable technology: 30%
Interestingly, AI adoption rates were lowest among respondents in Europe (34 percent) and highest among respondents in Asia Pacific (57 percent).
Key planning challenges
We asked conference experts what they think will be the biggest planning challenge for 2024. While this result is not surprising, it is a reminder that planners are not alone, especially when it comes to the issue of rising costs.
North American planners expect the biggest planning challenges for 2024 to be:
• Cost: 54%
• Location availability: 44%
• Budget reduction: 39%
• Flight availability: 32%
• Hotel staffing level: 26%
• Approval/buy-in from upper management: 25%
• Carbon footprint tracking: 19%
Tracking carbon emissions is a bigger concern for planners in Europe and Asia Pacific, with 24 percent and 37 percent of respondents respectively considering it a challenge.