U.S. monthly meetings and events volume for October increased 131.7% over the same month a year ago, according to data from Knowland, and grew by 21.2% over September.
“While this is normal month-over-month seasonality, it is higher than average,” said Kristi White, chief product officer, Knowland. “Additionally, the U.S. recovered 89.7% of 2019 event volumes in October, an improvement over September. This is the fifth month in a row the U.S. has eclipsed 80% recovery. Traditionally November and December are softer months, and we anticipate that will be the case this year. However, we are confident the recovery metrics will hover near the 90% mark for both months.”
- The average number of attendees per event for October 2022 was 119, compared to 110 in October 2021 and 95 in October 2019.
- The average space used in October 2022 was 3,124 sq. ft. Meetings in October 2021 averaged 2,734 sq. ft. and 3,151 sq. ft. in 2019. Proportionally from a per person (p/p) perspective, the 2022 meeting space used an average of 26 sq. ft. p/p as opposed to 24 sq. ft p/p in 2021 and 33 sq. ft. p/p in 2019.
- Compared to September, the top five growth markets for October (in order) were Phoenix, Washington, DC, Orlando, Boston and San Diego.
- The corporate segment represents 53.1% of the meetings and events business, with healthcare taking the lead as the largest industry segment. From a recovery standpoint compared to October 2019 levels, urban infrastructure, transportation, online retailer, environmental services and sports entertainment were the segments at the highest level of recovery captured in October 2022.
