ARLINGTON, Virginia—Knowland announced that the San Diego market led the U.S. meetings and events industry by volume for February 2023, followed by Chicago and Dallas. The drivers for meetings were technology and healthcare across four of the top five markets. This data is a subset of Knowland’s pipeline generation platform designed to help hoteliers build and protect a hotel’s booking base.
- Year-Over-Year Comparison: February 2023 increased 149.1 percent over February 2022. Additionally, February realized 8.2 percent growth over 2019.
- Top Five Markets by Volume: San Diego was in the lead hosting technology, followed by healthcare and pharma/biotechnology. Chicago closed out the month with healthcare groups at the top and manufacturing and technology coming in second and third. The following three markets, Dallas, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta rounded out the top five markets.
- Top Five Markets by Percentage Growth: Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Oahu Island, Hawaii; Norfolk-Virginia Beach, Virginia; Charleston, South Carolina; and Riverside-San Bernadino, California realized the most significant percentage growth over February 2022.
Kristi White, chief product officer, Knowland, said, “Despite concerns about the technology sector—historically a big driver for corporate events—both technology and healthcare were strong contributors in February. Additionally, while the top 25 markets dominate the volume metrics, smaller markets are realizing the largest percentage of growth. This means growth is hitting almost every section of the country.”
