ARLINGTON, Virginia—Knowland released the top market performance numbers for December, citing San Diego as having the highest meeting volume improvement with 29.2 percent year-over-year (YOY) growth. Coming in second was San Francisco, where event volume increased 21.5 percent.
San Diego’s healthcare event business segment doubled, and its pharmaceutical/biotechnology events tripled from last year. Much of this meeting activity was held in the first half of the month.
The top market experienced an average number of attendees of 198, and the average meeting space used was 2,577 square feet.
- Year-over-year comparison: December 2023 event volume showed 6.7 percent growth over December 2022 for all U.S. markets.
- Top five markets (by YOY growth in event volume): San Diego ranked highest in the top 25 U.S. markets, hosting pharmaceutical/biotechnology meetings, followed by consulting industry events. The following four markets: San Francisco, Seattle, Orlando, and Miami rounded out the top five YOY for growth volume.
- San Diego: Pharmaceutical/biotechnology, consulting, national association, healthcare, charity/non-profit.
- San Francisco: Charity/non-profit, education, training/education, technology, and arts/performing arts.
- Seattle: Charity/non-profit, entertainment/media, healthcare, national association, and technology.
- Orlando: Pharmaceutical/biotechnology, healthcare, technology, national associations, wedding, and technology.
- Miami: Wedding, travel, education, financial/banking, and consulting.
- Top markets outside the top 25 (by YOY growth in event volume): Colorado Springs, Colorado; Lexington, Kentucky; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
