May meetings up 12.5% from April

May meetings and events saw an increase of 276% over May 2021, according to data from Knowland. The month-over-month increase was 12.5% over April’s figures.

“May was another strong month, with more than 12% growth over the prior month and the month was 65.5 percent recovered to 2019 levels,” said Kristi White, chief product officer, Knowland. “The events industry continues to push forward. Hotels should be paying close attention to those corporate segments with the highest volumes as well as those most recovered. Being nimble in the prospecting process will allow hotels to capture emerging business early and outpace the market and their competitors.”

  • The average number of attendees per event for May 2022 was 123, compared to 65 in May 2021 and 92 in May 2019.
  • The average space used in May 2022 was 3,271 sq. ft. Meetings in May 2021 averaged 2,601 sq. ft. and 2,836 sq. ft. in May 2019. Proportionally from a per person (p/p) perspective for May, 2022 meeting space used averaged 27 sq. ft. p/p, which was the same as 2021 as opposed to 31 sq. ft. p/p in 2019.
  • The top five growth markets in May compared to April (in order) were Chicago, Atlanta, San Diego, New York and Minneapolis.
  • The corporate segment represents 62.8% of meeting and event business with technology, healthcare and financial/banking taking the lead as the largest industry groups. From a recovery standpoint compared to May 2019 levels, online retailer, urban infrastructure, tobacco and packing/shipping are the segments at the highest level of recovery capture in May of 2022.