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Veloxity, AMEX and IMEX report corporate meetings on the rise

9 min read November 3, 2015
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Good news for the meetings industry: Veloxity, AMEX and IMEX report corporate meetings and events are on the rise. Meetings are a great way to have people from all over the world together to discuss topics. Talking face to face is proven to be more beneficial than over the phone. Getting employees together puts faces […]

Good news for the meetings industry: Veloxity, AMEX and IMEX report corporate meetings and events are on the rise. Meetings are a great way to have people from all over the world together to discuss topics. Talking face to face is proven to be more beneficial than over the phone. Getting employees together puts faces to voices and builds relationships within a large company.

American Express polled 420 people for its 2016 Meetings and Events Forecast, and 85% of respondents said the number of corporate meetings should at least remain the same, but possibly increase next year.

At a press conference held on October 13 during the IMEX America 2015 in Las Vegas, Stephanie Harris, AMEX Meetings and Events’ global marketing director said the survey reflects “a real sense of healthy growth.”

It seems that the strengthening world economy and increase of corporate expansion all over the world is driving this trend. Businesses are adding to their staff to keep up with the demand of an improved economy, and this results in more training and internal meetings in many regions.

More meetings, more demand

Hotel capacity is expected to increase in many of the key areas for corporate meetings, but so will prices. Suppliers are predicting an average group rate increase of 2.9 percent. In addition, air fare is estimated to jump 2 percent next year. Airlines have said that they plan on adding more capacity and new routes. To help balance increasing costs, 28% of planners said they are trying to include group air prices and are even negotiating flat rates with airlines. The average worldwide lead time before an event is only four weeks, so planners need to be on top of things in order to get the dates, rates and space they want.

Meetings all over the map

North America has the largest group rate increase with 4.2% jump. The most popular spots for these events are Orlando, Chicago and Las Vegas. In Europe, the group rate is up 2.3%, and hot spots include London and Paris, followed by Amsterdam. South and Central America had a 1.5% increase in the group rate, but also the shortest lead time of only six weeks. Top destinations are Rio de Janeiro and the Riviera Maya/Cancun region of Mexico. Finally, Asia Pacific had the smallest group rate increase of only 1.4%. There has been a shift as smaller cities are gaining popularity compared to larger locations, but Singapore and Hong Kong still keep the top spots.

Top Trends

There are three trends that should influence meetings in 2016.

  1. Mobile apps and data analytics. Planners have a new ally – apps. They can use information from conversations within their app to fix issues that are currently happening, and analyze the data from surveys to make changes for the future.
  2. Compliance. Harris said, “Compliance can be your friend. Embrace it.” It’s important that planners develop policies on meeting management to handle personal information, records, expenses and payments in the proper way.
  3. Incentives. Getting people to attend is sometimes the biggest challenge, so incentives are up 22% in some cases. Also the nature of these incentives are changing as there’s a push to provide customized experiences that are tied to the destination.

At Veloxity, we too are seeing a demand for our cell phone charging kiosks at corporate events. Planners realize that keeping customers and guests happy is the key to a successful event, and this is one huge benefit they can provide. Contact us about renting or buying a cell phone charging station for your business.