EIBTM 2010 Industry Trends & Market Share Report

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EIBTM 2010 Industry Trends& Market Share Report

An evaluation by Rob Davidson

EIBTM Industry Analyst

The Global Meetings & Events Exhibition

Fira Gran Via, Barcelona, Spain

30 November 2 December 2010

www.eibtm.com

Sponsored by:


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EIBTM 2010 INDUSTRY TRENDSAND MARKET SHARE REPORT

BY ROB DAVIDSON


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PREFACE

2010 will be remembered as the year when the meetings and events industry, reecting the global economy asa whole, shited towards an optimistic outlook. It was a year in which our industry eectively adjusted to thenew realities o a slowly recovering economy and global imbalances, as most world markets rebounded rom

challenging times.

At times, the business world in 2010 presented a conusing picture, with uctuating and sometimescontradictory economic data emerging month by month. In the context o such an array o bewilderingmarket intelligence and market uncertainties, it is essential that meeting proessionals stay ocused and awareo current trends happening in the industry. This 2010 Industry Trends and Market Share Report provides aclear digest o key macroeconomic and meetings industry data, looking back at what took place during 2010and orward to what trends are widely anticipated or 2011.

As this tumultuous year draws to a close, the prevailing mood o our industry and most o its clients is one o

cautious optimism, born o a conviction that the worst is behind us and that we are better prepared than everto ace the challenges o the uture.


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THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC CONTEXT


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2010 was a year o recovery, in most sectors o the economy and in most world regions. However, thatrecovery has been variously described as slow, altering, weak and uneven.

Nevertheless, Gross Domestic Product development has turned positive in most countries, but the recoveryhas been ragile, particularly in the worlds advanced economies.

Global imbalances have been accentuated, as the Asia-Pacifc has brushed o the recession with impressivespeed and resilience, while many o the advanced nations are characterized by much more sluggish economies,

lingering high levels o unemployment, and low consumer confdence. Sovereign debt is a persistent problemor many countries, and entire industries have taken a hit as governments have withdrawn the stimuluspackages they introduced to contain the allout rom last year's recession. A major development this year hasbeen the widespread introduction o government cuts to reduce national debt, policies which have at timesinamed demonstrations o civil unrest o varying degrees.

However, despite these ormidable challenges acing policymakers across the globe, there are a great number

o positive indicators. Chie among these is the prediction by the International Monetary Fund that globaleconomic output is likely to grow by 4.2 per cent in 2011 (up rom the 1.9 per cent that the IMF predictedback in early 2009) and its conviction that the probability o a sharp global slowdown, including stagnation or

contraction in advanced economies, is still low. However, that growth will be unevenly distributed betweendeveloping countries (up by an average o 6.4 per cent) and advanced nations (up by 2.2 per cent) stillstruggling with the eects o the fnancial crisis.

KEY MARKETS

The US

In the US, unemployment remains high, at around 10 per cent, with no relie in sight; national housing fgurescontinue to be pessimistic; and consumer confdence is low, as consumers have reduced their pace ospending, choosing instead to boost their savings. According to Deloitte Research, US households have alsoincreased their cash holdings while reducing their debt. Household saving began to rise in mid-2008 as therecession deepened, and in 2010, household savings were up just over $450 billion dollars over the past twoyears. This is the sharpest increase in savings in the post-World War II era.

The Federal Reserve has initiated a programme o quantitative easing, with the intention o bringing down

unemployment and ensuring price stability in the US. The dollar was brought down in value by the frstround o quantitative easing in 2008, but it rallied again rom late 2009 through mid-2010 on the heels o theEuropean debt crisis. However weaker US growth and expectations o another round o quantitative easinghave started to push the dollar lower again. For the moment, the weaker dollar coupled with a rebound in theglobal economy has produced a strong recovery in US exports. While not back to its peak levels o mid-2008,

the rebound in global trade has been one o the pillars o growth in the otherwise weak US recovery (DeloitteResearch). This may partly explain the high levels o business confdence prevailing in the US, as noted in thissummers KPMG Global Business Outlook Survey:

As was the case in February, companies in the US report a substantial degree o confdence

regarding uture activity. For manuacturing, Junes net balance o +69.3 is the second-highesto all surveyed countries, while the fgure or services is +61.2, topping the global ranking. UScompanies generally attribute their optimism to expectations o continued economic recoveryduring the next twelve months.


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Europe

Within Europe, the perormance o national economies in 2010 has been highly dierentiated, with somecountries on the periphery still struggling to tackle spiralling budget defcits (Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain)while others such as the core countries o Germany and France, with their exports-led economies, are

pointing the way to urther recovery. Nevertheless, there are positive indicators. For example, industrialorders in the eurozone are rebounding: almost 25% higher this August than in August 2009. This is easingconcerns that the eurozones economic recovery might be endangered by widespread government cuts

designed to reduce the size o some countries budget defcits.

BRIC nations

The BRIC nations, which account today or about 40% o the worlds population and 40% o the worldsannual gross domestic product (GDP), are set to become the global growth locomotive. Collectively, they areexpected to outperorm world as a whole and major industrialized economies over the next two years. Some

countries, such as China and India, will expand even more robustly than the bloc on average, with 10 percentgrowth in GDP predicted or China in the coming year and 8.8 percent or India. In 2010 China took romJapan the title o the worlds second largest economy. Driven by a vibrant domestic demand, the expansion

in the BRIC markets will be so buoyant that, by 2014, these countries will account or as much as 61% o theoverall growth in the worlds output.

KEY INDUSTRY SECTORS

As a vital business service provider, the perormance o the meetings and events industry is closely linkedto the perormance o its key sector clients. Two o the most important o those sectors, or the corporate

meetings and events market, are the medical and automotive industries. How have they both perormed in2010? In markedly dierent ways.

Medical

In a 2010 MeetingsNet article on medical meetings, the President and CEO o Orlando/Orange CountyConvention & Visitors Bureau said that while no segment was entirely recession-proo, the healthcareindustry is about as recession-proo as you can get.

Globally, several actors have shaped the medical/healthcare sector in 2010. Product pipelines also play akey role the volume o new products being made available. The drop in volume o large pharmaceuticalmeetings experienced by many destinations in 2009 was partly due to a shortage o new products, and aconcomitant shortage o product launches. But that trend was reversed in 2010, with overall growth in thissector. This was in line with the prediction o IMS Health, the leading annual industry indicator o dynamics in

this market, which reported that the value o the global pharmaceutical market in 2010 was expected to grow4 - 6 percent, exceeding $825 billion. The same orecasters also predicted that global pharmaceutical marketsales would grow at a 4 - 7 percent compound annual growth rate until 2013, taking into account the impacto the global macroeconomy, the changing mix o innovative and mature products, and the rising inuence ohealthcare access and unding on market demand.

The MeetingsNet article confrms the impact o this growth on the meetings and events market, with theManaging Director o Convention Sales o the Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau being quoted as sayingthat the medical segment has held up or his city during the recent tough times: Medical meetings have beenthe most consistent over the past ew years. However, he added: Exhibitor numbers might have been down,

but attendance has been either at or up. Were defnitely seeing a growth in attendance this year, and theearly projections are that well be seeing more o it next year.


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Automotive

Reecting global economic imbalances, the BRIC countries provided the best prospects or business in thissector in 2010. India and Russia were the markets expected to oer the greatest growth opportunities.Volkswagen, Ford Motor Co. and Toyota increased output and rolled out new models in Russia in 2010,

and sales in that country were predicted to grow by 13 percent in 2010. Indian passenger-car sales jumped33 percent rom a year earlier to a record 160,794 in August 2010, according to the Society o IndianAutomobile Manuacturers. Annual sales could reach 3 million by 2015, doubling rom last year, according to

the same source.

Elsewhere, however, as was expected, the automobile industry aced a challenging operating environment in2010, reecting a lack o consumer confdence in some key markets and the end o government incentives inthe US, China, Europe and Japan to persuade their citizens to purchase new vehicles. In the summer months,Bloomberg Businessweek reported that high levels o unemployment in the US and government measures tocool Chinas economy were damping demand in the worlds two largest car markets, weakening the outlook

or the industry. US car sales in August were the worst or the month in 28 years, while Chinas passenger-cardeliveries to dealerships increased at the slowest pace since March 2009.

In September, registrations o new cars in Europe were 9.2 percent lower than the year beore, with 1.26million new vehicles registered. The year-on-year all was the sixth decline as many months, with all majorEuropean markets down. In the UK, new car sales were 8.9 percent lower, while France and Germany sawalls o 8.2 percent and 17.8 percent respectively. Spain saw the biggest all, dropping 27.3 percent.

Nevertheless, towards the end o 2010, car sales even in these challenging markets began to strengthenslightly, suggesting a steady recovery. For example, according to preliminary estimates, total US October

light vehicle sales reached just over 12 million vehicles, at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate, the highest sincethe 2009 incentive scheme but still ar below pre-recession levels o 16 17 million units, according to theFinancial Times.


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MEETINGS AND EVENTS TRENDS IN 2010


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ECONOMY-RELATED TRENDS

2010 was a year in which the meetings and events industry continued to adapt to the new norms o costefciency prevailing across all markets. However, a number o new qualitative and quantitative changesoccurred in demand or the services and acilities provided by our industry.

Corporate meetings

There was a discernable relaxing o restrictions on business travel in general in most world regions. Forexample, in the 2010 American Express/CFO Research Global Business and Spending Monitor survey, only34% o respondents said that they planned to restrict travel or staff meetings or internal business (a all o 47percentage points compared with 2009), and only 35% o respondents said that they planned to restrict travelto conerences and retreats (a all o 44 percentage points compared with 2009).

The resurgence in corporate meetings has been particularly signifcant in Europe, according to the August

2010 MPI (Meeting Proessionals International) Business Barometer, which indicates that in the EU inparticular, the international corporate meetings market has led the net increase in meetings activity in 2010.

But growth in the volume o corporate meetings has come with a lower price-tag attached, in many instances,as buyers have become increasingly adept at driving down costs through tough negotiations. BenchmarkHospitality Internationals Top Ten Meeting Trends or 2010 include the observation that:

The atermath o 2009 is that planners come to pricing discussions today armed with negotiationskills careully honed over the last 12-18 months. Their expectation is or properties to extendsignifcant concessions across the board to pump up value or the meetings budget.

The fndings o the Advito 2011 Industry Forecast corroborate this:

2010 has seen a resurgence in meetings bookings, but at a lower average room spend perparticipant o 16 percent (January-June). Buyers have successully negotiated lower venue ratesthanks to meetings suppliers correctly gauging the prevailing mood o austerity.

Linked to buyers wish to negotiate eectively is the ongoing trend o short lead times. Benchmark ound thatthe booking window or US corporate meetings remained very short term rom 30 to 45 days on average.

The pervasiveness o short lead times was ound to be the most mentioned trend o all in the June MPIBusiness Barometer, and the Advito 2011 Industry Forecast suggested three main reasons or this:

Meetings organisers cannot be confdent they will have sufcient budgets until relatively soonbeore the event.

Buyers are betting they will obtain lower rates by booking at shorter notice as hotels and othervenues worry about whether they will fll unallocated space.

Booking at short notice minimizes the risk o cancellation and the need to pay cancellation ees.

In the 2010 meetings climate o tight and highly scrutinized budgets, another discernible trend was thecontinuation o moves to avoid rills and the appearance o lavishness in meetings. Time will tell whether thistrend will be reversed when the world economy returns to healthier days, but in the meantime, meetingscontinue to be much more serious in their content, with social unctions and special dinners being increasingly

replaced by working sessions. According to Benchmark Hospitality International, meeting spending isseriously conservative, highly image conscious, and ocused on the basics with little attention paid to the spaor a round o gol. Teambuilding, i it occurs, is integrated into the body o a meeting as there is little time toset aside or an aternoon on the high and low ropes courses.


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Incentive Travel

Indicators widely suggest that the incentives market recovered slightly in 2010, though not as much as otherparts o the meetings sector. But, reecting the caution that characterized corporate spending in 2010,incentives have also changed in the ollowing ways, according to Advitos research:

Almost the only incentive trips which have survived are those with a well-defned return oninvestment, such as a sales scheme.

The average number o nights per trip has allen rom 6.5 to 4.

Although still highly desirable, trips are less extravagant than in the past. Primary targetdestinations tend to be domestic or shorter haul international. However, there is a growinginterest and activity in longer haul international in which the long-haul ights have generally beendowngraded rom business class to economy. In some cases, hotel standards have moved one tierdown (or example, rom luxury to upper-upscale).

There is now nearly always a business element to the trip, such as discussions about corporatestrategy and direction.

There may well also be a corporate giving element to the trip, such as a team-building projectthat supports a local charity or community. This approach is increasingly popular in the U.S.

Other qualitative trends were highlighted by the Incentive Research Foundation, whose Pulse Study revealedthat 29 percent o incentive proessionals polled in a June survey were considering a switch, either temporarilyor permanently rom group travel programmes to individual awards in 2010. Among other fndings: 44 percent

o respondents indicated that procurement and purchasing involvement with incentive travel programmeswould increase in 2010.

Association conerencesPublished in January, the 2010 MPI Futurewatch study reported that association planners predicted loweronsite attendance in 2010, combined with stronger demand or educational content and a more consistenteort in the direction o sustainable meetings. However, later in the year, the August MPI Business Barometerreported that the domestic association conerence market had led the net increase in meetings activity in theUS in 2010.


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REGIONAL VARIATIONS

The US

The North American Meetings Market: Outlook 2010/2011 is based on research carried out by PCMA, AMEX

and YPartnership during April and May 2010, looking at intentions regarding the planning and hosting o o-site meetings. The fndings reect the general optimism within the meetings industry about a growth in thevolume o meetings towards the end o 2010.

There was ound to be a net increase in the number o o-site meetings planners expecting to book in 2010and 2011, versus 2009. 25 percent o meeting planners expected the number o meetings they book in 2010to increase compared to 2009, and 31 percent expected this trend to carry over into 2011. There was alsoa net increase in expected attendance at o-site meetings in 2010 and 2011, versus 2009. Meeting plannerssurveyed in the North American meetings Market study also stated that they were less likely to postpone,cancel or rebook uture meetings in 2010 , whether due to current economic conditions (6 percent vs. 41

percent), current downsizing/consolidation (3 percent vs. 22 percent), or current negative media coverageabout the meetings industry (1 percent vs. 8 percent). On average, proessional meeting planners saidthat they expected to pay approximately $7,600 in cancellation/rebooking ees or meetings they intend to

cancel, postpone or rebook in 2010, and only about $3,500 in such ees in 2011. This represents a signifcantdecrease rom the amount cited in the 2009 survey: $81,000.

The 2010 MPI Futurewatch study echoes these encouraging results. That research ound that US-basedplanners expected to plan 21 percent more meetings in 2010, although more o those meetings would also beheld closer to home, with US planners expecting to locate 80 percent o their meetings within the US in 2010,compared to 61 percent expecting to do so in 2009.

Further evidence o recovery in the US meetings market was provided by the June 2010 MaxvantageTravel Buyers Survey. According to the survey results, respondents indicated they were beginning to fndit increasingly difcult to fnd meeting room availability and more challenging to negotiate avourable rates.When compared to six months previous, the buyers elt the ollowing:

June 2010 versus

December 2009Easier

About the

same

More

challenging

Negotiating Terms and

Conditions9% vs. 18% 68% vs. 53% 18% vs. 21%

Finding Availability 9% vs. 26% 50% vs. 51% 37% vs. 18%

Negotiating Lower Rates 17% vs. 43% 50% vs. 50% 30% vs. 18%

Steve O'Malley, senior vice president and general manager o Maxvantage interpreted these results asindicators pointing to a move back toward a sellers market, ater a two year period characterized by abuyers market environment, when year-over-year savings had been easier to achieve, or buyers.

As a destination or international association events, the US maintained the top position in the InternationalCongress and Convention Association country rankings that it has headed since 2004, with 595 conerenceso this type in the latest data to be released by ICCA.


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Europe

There was evidence that, unlike the US market, European meeting planners were organizing their eventsurther afeld in 2010, with ewer being located domestically. Reporting signs o economic recovery in theEuropean meetings and events side o their business, Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) noted that their

European clients organized 30 percent o their meetings outside o their home country in 2010, comparedto 20 percent one year ago. Average spend per participant per day was ff175 in 2010, compared to ff150 theprevious year. And cancellations o meetings and events handled by CWT were down rom 15 percent to 10

percent.

As a ocus or international association conerences, Europe continued to maintain its dominance, with 7countries in the top 10 destinations being European countries, as indicated by the ICCA rankings releasedin 2010. Germany, second only to the US as a destination or meetings o international associations, wasnumber one in Europe or the sixth time running. According to ICCA, with 458 international associationmeetings, Germany was the frst in Europe, ar outpacing Spain (360 meetings), Italy (350 meetings), the UK

(345 meetings) and France (341 meetings). Statistics released by the Union o International Associations (UIA)in 2010 revealed that Europes share o the market or conerences o international associations had slightlyincreased, rom 52.73 percent to 54.1 percent.

Supply-side growth o meetings acilities continued in Europe in 2010, with a number o high-profle openingso new convention centres in cities such as Dublin, Wroclaw, Copenhagen and Rimini, and a number ourther openings (or example, Stockholm and Reykjavk) in the pipeline or 2011.

China

Chinas determination to succeed as a world-leader in terms o winning high-profle business events ledto many new initiatives in 2010, with a number o new cities entering this market. For example, Chengdupartnered conerence and incentive travel industry players in Hong Kong to drive a twinning o destinationsand to increase awareness o Chengdu among corporate event planners by capitalising on Hong Kongssuccess as a business destination and the extensive air links between the two cities.

At the same time, Chinas impressive economic growth rate made it a prime target or other destinationspromotional activities, as a growing number o countries targeted the Chinese market or meetings andevents. For example, in 2010 the Dubai Convention Bureau opened representative ofces in Beijing and

Shanghai, ollowing its strategic plan or expansion in China. This expansion is partly based on the act thatbusiness sectors that are travelling outbound rom China or meetings and incentives are in strong alignmentwith the primary business sectors o Dubai: fnancial services, insurance, communications, medical andautomotive.

Evidence o high levels o latent demand or business travel among the Chinese business community wasrevealed in the survey, Global Business Trends in the Third Millennium. In response to the question, Toachieve your business goals, do you wish you were taking more, less, or about the same number o businesstrips?, 71 percent o Chinese respondents opted or the choice o more, compared with only 40 percent oUS respondents and 31 percent and 25 percent respectively o UK and German respondents making the same

choice.


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Australia

A clear benefciary o the upturn in the world economic situation was Australia, the frst major industrialeconomy to recover rom the global recession. Australia saw signifcant growth in the number o visitorscoming to that country to attend meetings in 2010.

There were 168,000 convention or conerence arrivals during the year ended 31 August 2010, an overallincrease o 15 percent year-on- year. This was signifcantly greater growth rate than that seen in overall

business arrivals, which increased 9 per cent year-on-year, and in total arrivals to Australia, which increased 6per cent in the same period.

Business continued to build rom several o Australias most important markets, including India (conventionand conerence arrivals increased by 21 percent), Korea (up 23 percent), China (up 17 percent) and Japan (up20 percent). There was also an encouraging positive growth out o the North American markets, with the USshowing growth o 36 percent .


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TECHNOLOGY-RELATED TRENDS

On-site Internet access

Despite the wide range o applications on oer rom inormation and communications technology, simple,

efcent internet access proved to be the one that most meetings planners sought to enhance the quality otheir events. The 2010 MPI FutureWatch, or example noted that, as with past editions o the study, plannersattached very high importance to the availability o onsite Internet access, but were dissatisfed with its general

availability and aordability. The Benchmark study concurred, concluding that: maximum Internet bandwidthis the expectation or planners this year. All other technology demands are eclipsed by this. It continues:

In 2010, planners are not interested in the most advanced, cutting edge meeting technologyavailable. Conversely, theyre coming to negotiations with the expectation that a hotel,resort or conerence center will have current meeting technology installed. What they aredemanding, however, it that providers be able to provide maximum connectivity to support

online content and applications during the meeting. This is o critical importance universally.

Social media

A major technology story or 2010 is the rapid growth in the use o social media by venues and ConventionBureaus, as part o their marketing communications strategies. In moves to appeal to the younger generationo meetings planners and delegates, destinations and venues are increasingly turning to Web 2.0 applicationssuch as blogs, Facebook and Twitter in order to drive business to their websites and to monitor what themarket is saying about them. For example, in a 2010 survey o major conerence centres in the UK, it wasound that marketing sta were spending approximately one hal-day each week promoting their venues on

the social media.

According to the Benchmark study, LinkedIn and Trip Advisor are growing in importance to planners asthey seek inormation and customer eedback on properties they are considering. Additionally, an increasingnumber o planners are using Facebook to beriend sales executives rom provider properties with whom theyhave developed a relationship, oering another channel o riendly and casual contact to solidiy a businessexchange: In 2010, relationships actively nurtured in old and new media are a reliable pillar o success!

Video-conferencing

2010 saw an evolution in the balance between the use o virtual meetings and the use o ace-to-ace events,with advances or both sides. On the one hand, a 2010 study published in the Cornell Hospitality IndustryPerspectives series provided compelling, science-based arguments that large-group, ace-to-ace meetings andevents are by ar the most eective option when a business or organization needs to:

* capture attention or a new or dierent strategy, relationship or project* inspire people and build a positive emotional climate* build the strong relationships and human networks that orm powerul inormal levers or

success in business

Nevertheless, or reasons no doubt linked to the state o the economy, the use o virtual meetings tosubstitute ace-to-ace events or to complement them made edvances. For example, the MIA PathfnderReport conducted in Spring 2010 noted that here had been a slight increase in video-conerencing usage andjust over 50% o survey respondents stated that they planned to invest in this technology in the uture.


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Later in the year, Carlson Wagonlit Travel launched a new service to encourage its clients to integrate virtualmeetings into their managed travel programme. CWT now oers its clients access to Cisco TelePresencesuites at 22 locations around the world, as a way o using virtual meetings to complement business travel. Theservice also includes a cost comparison tool that helps when deciding whether to have a ace-to-ace meetingor a virtual one. According to CWTs vice president, global customer product marketing, telepresence can be

a compelling alternative to business travel under certain circumstances. She cited as prime examples regularlyscheduled internal meetings that last less than a day and involve colleagues located around the world. Sheadded:

Meetings can be conducted more oten, bringing more people together quickly and easilyor greater collaboration. Telepresence can also increase contacts with clients and businesspartners outside o the company. And a better work-lie balance or employees, coupledwith a more sustainable impact on the environment, are also important.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Incorporating CSR elements into meetings and events became a given in 2010, or certain types o clients,although the prevalence o such initiatives remained somewhat uneven. This is nowhere more clearly stated

than in the Benchmark study, which reported that:

Being Green is now generally assumed, but or certain segments, such as Federal & StateGovernment and Education business, its a requirement. For corporate groups, meeting providersare generally expected to have green programs in place, although this is not yet universally requiredby corporate America. For ederal and state government business as well as the education segment,however, properties must meet basic green hospitality requirements to even be considered or a

meeting or event this year.

But the including o social legacy initiatives in meetings and events also became more prevalent in 2010 notonly in the corporate market but also or association event, as confrmed by the President and CEO, Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau, who was quoted by MeetingsNet as saying that one big trendhes seeing is medical associations asking or inormation about community service projects: They want toconnect with the local community in a meaningul way.

The meetings industry itsel is continuing to set an example in this regard. At the MPI 2010 World Education

Congress held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Orlando, which is hosting the 2011 WEC, based itsluncheon presentation on corporate social responsibility. Orlando is home to Clean the World, a nonproftorganization that cleans and recycles soap discarded rom hotels or distribution to impoverished countries aswell as to shelters in the US.


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For most o 2010, economists continued to be divided on whether the global recovery would grow, stall, oreven be reversed in the year ahead. However, by the end o the year, more and more o them were daring totalk about avourable prospects or global recovery, albeit it slow and uneven.

However, the vast majority o indicators or the meetings and events industry point to improved business

conditions ahead in 2011.

* MPI Business Barometers in 2010 indicated that the industry was continuing its recovery at a

steady pace. The majority o August 2010 Business Barometer respondents (62 percent) indicatedthat current business conditions were better than a year ago. At the same time, there was a clearmajority eeling optimistic about the uture, with 70 percent o August 2010 Business Barometerrespondents projecting better upcoming business conditions than a year ago.

* The Benchmark study noted that a highly positive signal was that the overall pace was upsignifcantly or advance bookings in 2011.

* Corporate budgets or meetings and events were widely expected to grow in 2011. For example,in the British Meetings and Events Industry Survey corporate respondents reported an average 5.6

percent increase in their budgets or 2011 although association budgets were predicted to all byan average o 1 percent.

* The outlook or the incentive travel market also looks avourable, according to the most recentPulse Survey rom the Incentive Research Foundation, which reveals that survey respondents(incentive providers, corporate incentive travel buyers, incentive suppliers, and others) predictthat the incentive business will improve in both 2011 and 2012. Overall, 68 percent o Pulse

Survey respondents predict that business will be better or the incentive industry in 2011, and 77percent say it will be better in 2012.

* Heralding positive news or suppliers, the Advito 2011 Industry Forecast 2011 predicts thatalthough the supply o corporate meetings acilities and services outweighed demand in 2010,that will begin to turn around in 2011, reversing the trend or lower rates and short-noticereservations. According to Advito 2011 will see sustained growth in demand or corporatemeetings, which will push up rates or the frst time since 2008, but shaky economic confdencemeans that increases will generally be small, with the possible exception o markets characterized

by high-demand levels, such as New York and London, where steep rate rises may occur. Ioccupancy rates continue to rise in 2011, then supplier confdence will strengthen considerablyand, with little new supply expected, pricing will turn sharply upwards in 2012. Advitos advice toits clients included the recommendation to buck the trend towards shorted lead times by bookingtheir corporate meetings earlier in order to avoid either zero or only expensive availability in

2011.


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SOURCES

(All 2010)

Advito 2011 Industry Forecast

American Express/CFO Research Global Business and Spending Monitor

Australian Bureau o Statistics, Overseas Arrivals and Departures

Benchmark Hospitality Internationals Top Ten Meeting Trends or 2010

Bloomberg Businessweek Global Auto Industry Outlook Dims as U.S., China Markets Slow, 09 September

Boston Consulting Group: A New World Order o Consumption

British Meetings and Events Industry Survey

Cornell Hospitality Industry Perspectives No. 6: The Future o Meetings - The Case or Face-to-Face

Deloitte Research: Global Economic Outlook. 4th Quarter

Financial Times: Industry leaders train rivals as US car sales climb, 4 November

Incentive Research Foundation Spring Pulse Survey

KPMG Global Business Outlook Survey

Marriott Hotels and The Marist Institute or Public Opinion: Global Business Trends in the Third Millennium:

A Business Traveler Poll

Maxvantage Travel Buyers Survey

Meetings Industry Association Pathfnder Report - A quarterly snapshot o trends rom Buyers and Venues:

Spring

Meeting Proessionals International Business Barometers, June and August

Meeting Proessionals International and AMEX FutureWatch report

MeetingsNet: DMC Execs on Medical Meeting Trends, Sep 9, By Sue Pelletier

PCMA, AMEX and YPartnership The North American Meetings Market: Outlook 2010/2011

Union o International Associations: International Meetings Statistics


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We look forward to seeing you at EIBTM 2011.

29 November 2011 - 01 December 2011,

Documents

EIBTM 2010 Industry Trends & Market Share Report