WORLD - A survey of IMEX 2010 hosted buyers carried out jointly by ICCA and IMEX shows expected growth for what the authors call “the most resilient sector of the meetings industry”.
More than 100 association day attendees to the 2010 IMEX meetings executives exhibition in Frankfurt responded to the survey, conducted with the help of international meeting association ICCA. Fifteen per cent of this number organise events of more than 5,000 delegates.
Almost a third reported higher actual or planned attendance for their 2010 events than in previous years, while 46 per cent indicated no change, with just 14 per cent reporting slight reductions, and fewer than one in ten reporting a significant fall in numbers.
However, financial pressures are clearly continuing. Forty percent suffered falls in financial support from this side of their budgets, while the same number of respondents showed no change. A fifth reported higher income from sponsors and exhibitions.
When asked about their projections for 2011, the respondents painted a more positive picture. Almost a third of associations will be running more meetings in 2011 than in 2010, with only eight per cent planning to organise fewer. Fifty-three per cent are projecting higher attendances than in 2010, compared to a just six per cent who expect their delegate numbers to fall.
ICCA CEO Martin Sirk describes the results as the most positive forward forecast that these regular surveys have ever produced. "These results provide further powerful evidence that the international association meetings sector is holding firm through these economically rocky times,” he says. “Like everyone, they're faced with more conservative budgeting by their corporate sponsors, but their key constituents, the association members who attend their major meetings, are proving once again that they are loyal and willing to invest their time and money.”
