An eventful festive season: businesses celebrate with international events, according to FCM

Businesses are embracing the festive season, with Christmas parties, meetings, events and conferences in December spanning the globe from Vienna, to Oslo, Queenstown and Delhi. FCM Meetings & Events (FCM M&E), Australia-based specialists in the sector and flagship division of Flight Centre Travel Group, says it detects an upward trend of big businesses travelling internationally for meetings, events and conferences over the Christmas season. “International bookings account for more than 38% of booking spend in December 2023,” said FCM M&E global general manager Simone Seiler (pictured). “The most popular international destination was Port Villa, followed by Nadi, Kuala Lumpur and Auckland. Further abroad, groups are attending events in Vienna, Oslo, Paris, London, Phuket, Delhi, Queenstown and Hanoi, among others. “Closer to home, organisations are commonly opting for ocean-side events, with the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Hamilton Island, Esperance and Newcastle making up 32% of total spend. “Capital cities around Australia also account for 38% of overall spend, where we typically see the highest rates of business events.” Seiler said the education sector has accounted for the majority of bookings, making up 69% of all activity in December 2023, up from 50% in the same month last year. “We’re seeing significant demand for high-quality, personalised event experiences, as we see organisations place an emphasis on in-person connection,” she said. A research report by Grandview Research shows the MICE industry is set to continue booming, with an expected compounded annual growth rate of 7.5% from 2023 to 2030. According to the report, in 2022 the industry was valued at US$876.42bn.