MPI’s latest Meetings Outlook report has found that many meetings professionals are facing a challenging climate in 2015 as the increases in event costs looks set to exceed expected budgets.
Respondents have identified limited guest room availability (84%), catering (87%) and rising air fares (89%) as the expenses of most concern.
Air travel costs are expected to rise by 5%, with catering increasing by 4%, guest rooms by 3.9%, audiovisual by 3.1% and meeting rooms by 2.5%.
Overall, meeting and events business in Europe is anticipated to grow by 3.6% during 2015, with 81% of survey respondents agreeing business conditions in 2015 will be favourable. 55% of EU planners predict an increase in budgets but the significant increases in costs are likely to outweigh the growth forcing many organisers to look for ways to stretch their budgets.
Many organisations are still emphasizing ROI, offsetting the cost against a demonstrable business payoff. Therefore, meetings professionals are expected to see the greatest increases in training, sales and educational events.
