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Industry Trends
  • Posted by Theresa Davis at
    12:00AM 09/07/2011 • 0 Comments

    Glimmers of improvement amidst uncertainty

    MPI Business Barometer

    Our association is built upon great people who want to succeed, and we want to support them.  I think one of the best ways our team here at HQ does this is through our continued production of great research and reports that are timely and help savvy pros navigate some pretty tough water through this recession.

    I'm a big fan of the Business Barometer and chose this post to highlight some of the findings from this bi-monthly report's latest edition (August).  As our economies merge on a global landscape there is relevant data in here for all members, regardless of their geographic location or side of the business.  But for my purposes here, I've pulled out some key points both by geography and sector.

    Taking a hard look at the US and North America, Business Barometer found:

    •    Continued global economic uncertainty. Professionals labeled the global economy, along with U.S. Congress and the domestic economy as the most influential trends on the industry.
    •    Nearly 10% decrease in concern about U.S. fuel and airfare increases; concerns around long-distance travel remains.
    •    The number of companies hiring full-time and contract workers continues a 14-month continued growth.

    Within the European Market some key indicators included:
    •    Global economic uncertainty continues to concern meeting and event professionals.
    •    The EU is reporting increased part-time employment (in the industry).
    •    The greatest increases in meeting and events are in the areas of domestic and international corporate.

    Hoteliers and other suppliers within the hospitality sector should consider:
    •    Attendance levels at meetings and events is consistently higher than 2010.
    •    Spending per meeting continues a steady, albeit, slight growth.
    •    In the US, the greatest event increase is in the domestic corporate and association segment; for Europe the domestic and international corporate segments continue to grow.

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    Note: Immediate access to this research is a valued benefit of MPI Membership, and MPIWeb Connect users have access to previous editions on a two-month delay.  All other industry professionals may purchase the research either in an annual subscription or per issue.



  • Posted by David Basler at
    12:00AM 12/22/2010 • 0 Comments

    Execs See Emerging Markets Growth

    This time of year brings anticipation, expectation and for many of us, it's a time for planning. With FutureWatch 2011 launching in our upcoming January issue, this time of year has most of us keeping our pulse on the industry and watching the trends even more.

    I am a subscriber to McKinsey Quarterly and much like MPI's FutureWatch and Business Barometer products do for the meeting and business events industry, McKinsey's Global Economic Conditions Snapshot sheds an interesting light on how execs around the world are looking at the state of things.

    The highlight of the survey results for me was that now more than half of respondents say they are positive about the state of their nations' economies and that they are seeing improvement and 63 percent say their economies are now in recovery. Unfortunately that leaves the others feeling glum—including 35 percent who say they do not expect an upturn in 2011.

    At the corporate level, execs are expecting profits to rise along with consumer demand, both of which increased slightly in the last quarter, and most respondents reported that their companies were not going to postpone or cut investments for growth—also a good sign.

    A staggering number of respondents (more than 75 percent) said the expect the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) to gain serious influence on the global markets in the next five years and most feel that this increase in influence will come at the expense of the world's developed nations.

    The reason? Most feel that more than a quarter of their companies' profits in the next five years will come out of these BRIC nations. 

    When asked simply how the influence of the economies of these BRIC nations would be different in five years, it was a resounding response that these economies would be stronger—China (92 percent), India (85 percent), Brazil (75 percent) and Russia (46 percent).

    The question for me is, of course, what does this mean for the meeting and business event industry?

    More delegates from these countries branching out and attending more events around the globe? Probably. Will we see more of a presence from these countries at trade shows around the globe? I hope so. More business being done in these BRIC nations than we've ever seen before? Definitely.

    It's a shifting world, and the globe is much smaller than it used to be.