Tysons Corner, Va.–Cvent, Inc., a cloud-based enterprise event management company, today revealed its annual list of the top 50 cities for meetings and events in the United States. The list was compiled according to meeting and event booking activity through the Cvent Supplier Network, a database of more than 245,000 hotels, resorts, and special event venues. Cvent sourced nearly $11 billion in meetings and events globally through its marketplace in 2016.
The top 10 cities for meeting and event booking in the United States for 2017 are:
- Orlando, Florida
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- Chicago, Illinois
- Atlanta, Georgia
- San Diego, California
- Washington, D.C.
- Nashville, Tennessee
- Dallas, Texas
- New York, New York
- Phoenix, Arizona
“Corporate events remain important economic drivers for cities globally, and we’re seeing a direct correlation between economic strength and event activity in our ranking,” said Kevin Fliess, vice president of marketing for Cvent’s Hospitality Cloud. “In the U.S., for example, the most recent statistics from the Department of Commerce show that several of the cities in our top 10 list—including Orlando and Nashville—are enjoying GDP growth that outpaces the national rate. Cities that continue to invest in attracting more and larger meetings and events each year are directly investing in their local economy.”
Regional highlights for the U.S. include some list movement—Orlando has held the number one spot on the list in five of the six years that the ranking has been published. Chicago and Washington switched spots from last year. These three cities have jockeyed for the number one position in all but 2012, when Washington, D.C. came in second. Phoenix moved up three spots to round out the top 10.
Another notable trend is a shift in average daily rate (ADR). Nationwide, ADR was $204 in 2016, with New York City coming in most expensive at $328, and Jacksonville, Florida coming in least expensive at $144. Among the Top 10 Destinations this year, Nashville seen the highest growth in ADR (5.93 percent) between 2015 and 2016, while Orlando has seen an ADR increase of 5.06 percent.
Cvent evaluated more than 5,000 U.S. cities featured on the Cvent Supplier Network to compile the sixth annual list. Activity was tracked from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016 and the ranking was then determined by a set of qualifying criteria consisting of unique request for proposals received, total room nights, awarded request for proposals, awarded room nights, percentage of qualified meeting venues, and number of profile views. Additionally, Cvent looked at the change in ADR rate between 2015 and 2016 for each city on the U.S. Top Destinations List.
