EUROPE - The latest Road to Recovery 2012 survey from the International Association of Congress Centres (AIPC) finds 44 per cent of members are seeing ‘weak’ to ‘no’ recovery following the recent economic downturn.
 
The survey is the third in a series of industry performance and outlook surveys of AIPC members.
 
When asked about pricing power, 65 per cent of survey respondents said their pricing power had increased in the last five years. A further 67 per cent said they were engaging in more subvention and give-aways to keep their customers happy than five years ago. Eighty-eight per cent said their event clients were negotiating more keenly today.
 
Just under a third of respondees (32%) said they were expanding their business offering, with 58 per cent expecting their total exhibition and meeting revenue to increase in 2012.
 
In the value section of the survey, 51 per cent of respondents said their event producer clients wanted higher quality food and beverage. Due to the recession, 82 per cent said they had changed how they present value to their attendees.
 
Michael Hughes MD of Research and Consulting at Red7Media told CMW: "This survey identified and assessed industry progress, clarified primary issues and actions and helped evaluate whether or not our business expectations align with those of our clients.
 
"The main buzz words for our industry, maintained from the survey, were ‘connected’, ‘content’ and ‘hybrid’."
 
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