DALLAS (February 02, 2020) -  Meeting Professionals International (MPI), the world’s largest meeting and event industry association, published its Winter 2021 Meetings Outlook, a future-focused quarterly report that identifies new trends and innovations. The publication allows planners to budget and plan accordingly and ensures a strong foundation for building sound strategies that keep businesses on paths to success.

There continue to be slight increases in all positive indicators for face-to-face meetings and events. While this is still far from the January 2020 business events landscape, for the second consecutive quarter, data points to an improvement across hiring as well as projections for business conditions, budgets and live attendance.

Key findings from the report include:

• 65% of respondents predict favorable business conditions for the year ahead—a significant positive outlook for the second consecutive quarter. Over the summer, only 36% of respondents said the same.
• 53% of respondents say that plans for holding their next in-person event are contingent on the distribution of a safe and effective vaccine; only 16% of respondents said their next face-to-face event is not contingent on a vaccine. (31% of respondents say their next in-person event may depend on a vaccine.)
• 86% of meeting professionals expect business will return to pre-pandemic levels in 2022 or later.

“We’re seeing signs that vaccine and therapeutics are positively impacting projections for in-person events in 2021.” said Jessie States, CMP, CMM, director, MPI Academy for Meeting Professionals International. More than 85% of meeting professionals anticipate holding an in-person experience in 2021 (and an additional 3% said they did so in Q4 of 2020). Contract employment, a leading indicator of recovery after the Great Recession, is increasing at a higher rate, and 87% say they believe they will host in-person experiences within 12 months after a safe and effective vaccine is first distributed. MPI will continue to monitor our industry’s recovery so that meetings practitioners and strategists can make smart decisions for their businesses and communities.”

Meetings Outlook presents future industry trends and predictions from MPI members, including meeting professionals on MPI’s Business Research Panel. Research is conducted in house using the Qualtrics survey platform. The research is conducted quarterly and provides current business conditions and future outlooks.

Meetings Outlook is developed in partnership with IMEX Group. The full report can be found https://www.mpi.org/docs/default-source/meetings-outlook/meetings-outlook-winter-2021.pdf 

Media Contact:  Peggy Foley, communications@mpi.org; 972-365-7984

DALLAS (February 02, 2020) -  Meeting Professionals International (MPI), the world’s largest meeting and event industry association, published its Winter 2021 Meetings Outlook, a future-focused quarterly report that identifies new trends and innovations. The publication allows planners to budget and plan accordingly and ensures a strong foundation for building sound strategies that keep businesses on paths to success.

There continue to be slight increases in all positive indicators for face-to-face meetings and events. While this is still far from the January 2020 business events landscape, for the second consecutive quarter, data points to an improvement across hiring as well as projections for business conditions, budgets and live attendance.

Key findings from the report include:

• 65% of respondents predict favorable business conditions for the year ahead—a significant positive outlook for the second consecutive quarter. Over the summer, only 36% of respondents said the same.
• 53% of respondents say that plans for holding their next in-person event are contingent on the distribution of a safe and effective vaccine; only 16% of respondents said their next face-to-face event is not contingent on a vaccine. (31% of respondents say their next in-person event may depend on a vaccine.)
• 86% of meeting professionals expect business will return to pre-pandemic levels in 2022 or later.

“We’re seeing signs that vaccine and therapeutics are positively impacting projections for in-person events in 2021.” said Jessie States, CMP, CMM, director, MPI Academy for Meeting Professionals International. More than 85% of meeting professionals anticipate holding an in-person experience in 2021 (and an additional 3% said they did so in Q4 of 2020). Contract employment, a leading indicator of recovery after the Great Recession, is increasing at a higher rate, and 87% say they believe they will host in-person experiences within 12 months after a safe and effective vaccine is first distributed. MPI will continue to monitor our industry’s recovery so that meetings practitioners and strategists can make smart decisions for their businesses and communities.”

Meetings Outlook presents future industry trends and predictions from MPI members, including meeting professionals on MPI’s Business Research Panel. Research is conducted in house using the Qualtrics survey platform. The research is conducted quarterly and provides current business conditions and future outlooks.

Meetings Outlook is developed in partnership with IMEX Group. The full report can be found https://www.mpi.org/docs/default-source/meetings-outlook/meetings-outlook-winter-2021.pdf 

Media Contact:  Peggy Foley, communications@mpi.org; 972-365-7984

DALLAS (February 02, 2020) -  Meeting Professionals International (MPI), the world’s largest meeting and event industry association, published its Winter 2021 Meetings Outlook, a future-focused quarterly report that identifies new trends and innovations. The publication allows planners to budget and plan accordingly and ensures a strong foundation for building sound strategies that keep businesses on paths to success.

There continue to be slight increases in all positive indicators for face-to-face meetings and events. While this is still far from the January 2020 business events landscape, for the second consecutive quarter, data points to an improvement across hiring as well as projections for business conditions, budgets and live attendance.

Key findings from the report include:

• 65% of respondents predict favorable business conditions for the year ahead—a significant positive outlook for the second consecutive quarter. Over the summer, only 36% of respondents said the same.
• 53% of respondents say that plans for holding their next in-person event are contingent on the distribution of a safe and effective vaccine; only 16% of respondents said their next face-to-face event is not contingent on a vaccine. (31% of respondents say their next in-person event may depend on a vaccine.)
• 86% of meeting professionals expect business will return to pre-pandemic levels in 2022 or later.

“We’re seeing signs that vaccine and therapeutics are positively impacting projections for in-person events in 2021.” said Jessie States, CMP, CMM, director, MPI Academy for Meeting Professionals International. More than 85% of meeting professionals anticipate holding an in-person experience in 2021 (and an additional 3% said they did so in Q4 of 2020). Contract employment, a leading indicator of recovery after the Great Recession, is increasing at a higher rate, and 87% say they believe they will host in-person experiences within 12 months after a safe and effective vaccine is first distributed. MPI will continue to monitor our industry’s recovery so that meetings practitioners and strategists can make smart decisions for their businesses and communities.”

Meetings Outlook presents future industry trends and predictions from MPI members, including meeting professionals on MPI’s Business Research Panel. Research is conducted in house using the Qualtrics survey platform. The research is conducted quarterly and provides current business conditions and future outlooks.

Meetings Outlook is developed in partnership with IMEX Group. The full report can be found https://www.mpi.org/docs/default-source/meetings-outlook/meetings-outlook-winter-2021.pdf 

Media Contact:  Peggy Foley, communications@mpi.org; 972-365-7984