ARLINGTON, Virginia — Knowland, an AI-powered data provider for hotels, convention and visitor bureaus, conference centers, and other meeting venues released its monthly meetings and events data for April. The numbers reveal that April U.S. group meetings volume increased 58.5 percent over March 2021.
The hotel industry is moving past the one-year mark when lockdowns began in the United States. With this in mind, Knowland will compare average attendees and average space used market data to its 2019 numbers for its future research. As bigger cities such as New York and Las Vegas begin to re-open to pre-COVID standards, Knowland anticipates group volume to increase significantly in the coming months. This is another positive sign that meetings are happening, and sales teams need to be prepared to manage the upcoming sales boost.
- Average attendees: The average number of attendees in April 2021 was 63, compared to 74 in April 2019, a positive sign that meetings are on the rise and attendee numbers are coming back to 2019 levels.
- Average space used: The average space used in April 2021 was 2,640 square feet while meetings in April 2019 averaged 2,322 square feet. While the average space used is still greater due to six-foot social distancing, there is a steady decrease as restrictions begin to lift.
- Individual market growth: The top five growth markets in April were Anaheim, Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and San Antonio.
- Corporate meetings continue to represent the largest market segment, with healthcare, training and education, technology, manufacturing, and entertainment and media as the biggest producers in the segment.
Kristi White, vice president of product management for Knowland, said, “April continued its path of improvement. Four of the top growth markets were impacted significantly by COVID restrictions early in the year. However, since restrictions loosened, they have rebounded quickly. Additionally, meeting sizes are stabilizing to prior-year levels. Over the next few months – as more markets loosen up – meeting numbers and size should increase even more.”
