ARLINGTON, Virginia—Knowland, a provider of data-as-a-service insights on meetings and events for hospitality, released its monthly meetings and events data for December. Although the December U.S. group meeting volume decreased 16.8 percent over November 2021, this change is in line with normal seasonality trends.
Reflecting the latest industry reactions to COVID-19 Omicron variant concerns, the average number of attendees dipped in December. However, the average space used edged closer to the 2019 metric.
- Average attendees decrease from 2019—The average number of attendees per event in December 2021 was 101, compared to 140 in December 2019.
- Average space edges closer to 2019—The average space used in December 2021 was 2,363 square feet while meetings in December 2019 averaged 2,254 square feet.
- Top five market growth—The top five growth markets, in order, in December were Seattle, Oahu Island, Grand Rapids, Tucson, and Chattanooga.
- Corporate meetings represent the largest market segment—The corporate segment represents 64 percent of meeting and event business with technology and healthcare taking the lead as the largest industry groups.
Kristi White, chief product officer, Knowland, said, “There are several leading indicators the meetings industry is stabilizing. The first is native seasonality asserting itself into normal patterns seen before the pandemic began. The second is shifting growth markets. Seeing growth shift amongst many different markets is a sign recovery is spreading to all areas of the country and is not limited to a handful of markets.”
