Making sense of the convention kaleidoscope with new AIPC survey results

Every year, the International Association of Convention Centres (AIPC) – in partnership with Access Intelligence – performs a member survey focusing on six key areas: revenue, business development, behaviour, infrastructure & investments, resources and outlook. Here are some of the 2024 results and key insights. This summary of the 2024 AIPC Membership Survey findings focuses on five areas: industry performance and outlook, new strategies, client trends, infrastructure and staff. Industry performance and outlook On average, the gross total revenues have surpassed the level last experienced in 2019. Collectively members say total revenues reached 103% compared to the level in 2019. However, there are big regional differences: Europe, Africa, Oceania and North America are all above 2019 levels, whereas Latin America and Asia are still below. Attendance levels and the number of bookings are both below 2019 levels. On average, attendance levels are at 91% compared to 2019. Similar to gross revenues, there are regional differences, with Europe and Africa having a lower average attendance. In terms of bookings, only 58% of the AIPC community has reached the 2019 levels. Looking forward, a significant 83% of members say their overall events and meetings industry outlook is either ‘confident’ or ‘very confident’ in terms of expected growth over the next few years. North American members are the most confident compared to other major regions. AIPC also asked which risks to growth the members see. Overall operational service and commodities inflation is by far the top risk, followed by competition from other centres and destinations and increasing costs of technology-related investments. In short, growth is driving scarcity throughout the world and is fuelling pricing increases. New strategies In terms of important strategic changes made over the past year, members have primarily changed or enhanced their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, increased venue services pricing, and changed their client bookings and marketing focus to certain types of clients or events. It should be noted that when business is ‘good’ and the event and meetings industry is expanding, centres tend to not need to focus on adding new revenue streams quite as much as they do in weaker market environments. In 2021, 60% of the members added new revenue streams, compared to 32% in 2024. The same goes for innovations: in 2022, 70% of the members adopted innovations – which were mainly technology driven. Over the last two years, the focus has been on fine-tuning these changes.

Client trends Looking at the data of the last five years suggests that, similar to 2019, the industry today is in an expansionary phase driven by strong economic growth (with variations around the world). In strong economic periods major corporate events tend to expand. The five-year comparison shows that both governmental events and local corporate meetings have not rebounded back to 2019 levels. In terms of client behaviour, the AIPC members continue to see requests for important event design, content and programming changes closer to event dates, and state that this trend is accelerating. Members deal with this in different ways. Next to assessing each request and making it work where possible, the following approaches were mentioned:

• Charge separate fees, escalate pricing or assess fee penalties
• Outline clear late changes and pricing policies in contracts and service agreements
• On-going communication with clients and partners
• Improving operational efficiency to be able to make quicker changes later in the cycle
• Add event management staff
• Infrastructure

The focus of most major capital investments by members is on renovations. A total of 52% of members worldwide are in the planning phase for a renovation or have a renovation project already underway. Thirty one percent said they have no major capital investment development plans or projects currently, which can be flipped around to say that 69% of members in fact do have some type of project underway. The top three venue areas most in need of investment are meeting rooms, signage and technology. The five-year comparison shows that signage has become more important and, somewhat surprisingly, technology has become less in focus in terms of areas that need investment. This is because many members have invested significantly in various technology capacities, platforms and services over the past few years.

Staffing A total of 45% of members say recruiting and retaining suitable employees is extremely/very challenging. This is down from 58% in 2023. By far, and a continuation of the trend, it is most difficult for members to find mid-level management staff, followed by entry-level. Twenty-eight percent of members say they are challenged to find senior management as well. Exactly half of members have undertaken a new initiative to enhance or streamline talent recruitment, training or retention. These initiatives often include a focus on increasing pay, offering more training, partnering with colleges and universities, using technology, and providing more flexible work schedules. Key insights In summary, the 2024 AIPC Membership Survey provides following key insights:

• Average event attendance levels are still below 2019 levels
• There is confidence that the meetings and events industry will thrive over the next years
• Inflation and competition are the primary risks to centre business growth
• CSR, services pricing increases, and different bookings and client market focus are the primary strategic business changes.