ARLINGTON, Va. — November U.S. monthly meetings and events volume increased 15 percent over the previous month, according to the latest data from Knowland, provider of group hospitality analytics for hotels, convention and visitor bureaus, conference centers, and other meeting venues.
Even with the pause of the Thanksgiving holiday, meetings increased month over month. Meeting volume remains lower than 2019, however, the consistent monthly growth is a positive for the industry. Additional highlights from Knowland’s November data include:
- Average attendees decreased — The average number of attendees in November 2020 was 45 compared to 59 in November 2019.
- Average square footage used decreased — The average space used in November 2020 was 1,786 square feet while meetings in November 2019 averaged 2,100 square feet.
- Growth was even across all market types — Primary markets grew 15 percent month over month while secondary and tertiary markets grew 15.5 percent. Top growth markets were Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas, Pittsburgh, Pa., and Salt Lake City, Utah.
- Corporate meetings represent the largest meeting segment — Corporate meetings produced most of the activity with 60.4 percent of total meetings for the month.
- Growth stabilized across all market types — Despite the holiday week in the United States, growth was still strong and we expect this trend will continue going into December.
“Corporate business remains the driving force behind meetings and events,” said Kristi White, vice president of product management, Knowland. “This is good news for hotels since this business can be influenced by hotel salespeople. Despite the holiday, we continued to see growth in the volume of meetings and although 2019 volumes might still be a ways off, meetings are happening and your sales teams should be hunting for them.”
