DALLAS - Meeting Professionals International (MPI), the world’s largest meeting and event industry association, has published its Winter 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.

Demand for face-to-face meetings and events continues to grow, pushing well past the darkest days of the pandemic and revealing the enduring need and desire for in-person gatherings, according to MPI’s latest Meetings Outlook report (winter 2022/2023). Key findings include:

• Overall business projections remain incredibly positive with 85% of respondents indicating a favorable landscape for the year ahead; 37% of all respondents actually project business conditions will be more than 10% better.
• Live-event attendance expectations remain near all-time highs with 82% of respondents expecting favorable attendance changes; those indicating favorable virtual attendance expectations are the weakest we’ve seen (13%) and respondents citing “negative” virtual attendance projections remain near all-time highs.
• Full-time hiring has increased for each of the past six quarters. Perhaps most significantly, the latest result—49% of respondents indicating an increase in hiring—is the highest this metric has been in the survey’s history.
• On DEI: 65% of respondents believe the meeting and event industry is inclusive and welcomes diversity and 71% of respondents agree that “diversity and inclusion are priorities for my organization”; 68% of respondents say the industry needs better DEI training and tools.

"Overall projections for business conditions continue to be overwhelmingly positive, for now immune to supply chain disruptions, increasing costs, global inflation and imminent (or not) recession,” said Jessie States, Vice President of MPI Academy, “The return to in-person events continues with expectations for attendance near all-time highs, while digital and virtual events see projections drop. The boom in business (and perhaps the remnants of a pandemic employment exodus) means the industry's job market is strong, and has been now for six quarters--posting its highest-ever 49% of respondents hiring full-time employees. Regardless of outside influences, the business of meetings is bullish."

Meetings Outlook presents future industry trends and predictions from MPI members. 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 here: https://www.mpi.org/docs/default-source/meetings-outlook/meetings-outlook-winter-2023.pdf

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