ARLINGTON, Virginia—Knowland released its monthly meetings and events data for May with a significant increase of 276 percent over May 2021. May 2022 rebounded from April 2022 with a 12.5 percent increase month over month.
- Average attendees per event continue to outpace 2019: The average number of attendees per event for May 2022 was 123, compared to 65 in May 2021 and 92 in May 2019.
- Average space used per person lower than 2019: The average space used in May 2022 was 3,271 square feet. Meetings in May 2021 averaged 2,601 square feet and 2,836 square feet in May 2019. Proportionally from a per person perspective for May 2022, meeting space used averaged 27 square feet per person, which was the same as 2021 as opposed to 31 square feet per person in 2019.
- Top five market growth compared to April 2022: The top five growth markets compared to April (in order) in May were Chicago, Atlanta, San Diego, New York, and Minneapolis.
- Corporate meetings continue to be the dominant segment: The corporate segment represents 62.8 percent of meeting and event business with technology, healthcare, and financial/banking taking the lead as the largest industry groups. From a recovery standpoint compared to May 2019 levels, online retailer, urban infrastructure, tobacco, and packing/shipping are the segments at the highest level of recovery capture in May of 2022.
Kristi White, chief product officer, Knowland, said, “May was another strong month. Twelve percent growth over the prior month and the month was 65.5 percent recovered to 2019 levels. The events industry continues to push forward. Hotels should be paying close attention to those corporate segments with the highest volumes as well as those most recovered. Being nimble in the prospecting process will allow hotels to capture emerging business early and outpace the market and their competitors.”
