ARLINGTON, Virginia—Knowland released its monthly meetings and events data for July reporting a significant increase of 163.9 percent over July 2021. Although there was a 15.5 percent decline from June, this is related to normal seasonality, however, it is still less than typically exhibited pre-COVID.
- Average attendees per event increase: The average number of attendees per event for July 2022 was 121, compared to 64 in July 2021 and 91 in July 2019.
- Average space used per person decreased over 2021: The average space used in July 2022 was 3,088 square feet. Meetings in July 2021 averaged 2,461 square feet and 2,791 square feet in July 2019. Proportionally from a per person perspective, 2022 meeting space used an average of 26 square feet per person as opposed to 38 square feet per person in 2021 and 31 square feet per person in 2019.
- Top five market growth compared to June 2022: The top five growth markets compared to June (in order) in July were Sarasota, Florida; Norfolk; Buffalo, New York; Kauai; and Raleigh-Durham.
- Corporate meetings continue as the dominant segment: The corporate segment represents 58.1 percent of meeting and event business with technology, training/education, and healthcare taking the lead as the largest industry segments.
- From a recovery standpoint compared to July 2019 levels, online retailer, urban infrastructure, sports entertainment/media, engineering, and construction were the segments at the highest level of recovery captured in July of 2022.
Kristi White, chief product officer, Knowland, said, “July is always the low point of the summer months, with corporate meetings taking a minor step back while SMERF business surges forward. This is exactly the behavior we saw this July. Additionally, the dip from June to July was less than in years pre-pandemic. Even with the dip, the U.S. market recovered at 81.4 percent in July ahead of the 80.1 percent we saw in June.”
