ARLINGTON, Virginia—Knowland reported that in September, Nashville saw the highest percent growth at 30.7 percent and Los Angeles saw 22.3 percent growth over 2022. For the top five performing markets, national associations took the lead, with healthcare, education, and weddings leading as top industry growth drivers.
Nashville’s growth was stimulated by the healthcare and technology industry segments, representing 34 percent of the corporate events in the market. The average number of attendees for Nashville meetings was 101, and the average meeting space used was over 2,692 square feet. As Los Angeles hoteliers continued talks with strike workers, the market still grew over 2022.
- Year-over-year comparison: September 2023 event volume increased 21.7 percent over September 2022.
- Top five markets (by event volume growth percent): Nashville led the top 25 U.S. markets with healthcare meetings, followed by technology. The following four markets—Los Angeles/Long Beach; Oahu Island, Hawaii, Las Vegas, and Denver—rounded out the top five growth markets.
- Nashville: Healthcare, technology, national association, financial/banking, and manufacturing.
- Los Angeles-Long Beach: Education, charity/non-profit, healthcare, national association, and training/education.
- Oahu Island: Wedding, travel, national association, education, and military.
- Las Vegas: National association, technology, training/education, wedding, and charity/non-profit.
- Denver: National association, healthcare, education, technology, and financial/banking.
- Top markets outside the top 25 (by event volume percentage growth): The top overall U.S. markets by year-over-year growth in meetings and events were Lexington, Kentucky; Louisville, Kentucky; Madison, Wisconsin; Bergen-Passaic, New Jersey; Jacksonville, Florida; and Memphis, Tennessee.
