Study on the Economic Importance of the Meetings Industry: An Update A World Tourism Organisation, ICCA, Reed Travel and MPI Project

Professor Dr. Larry Dwyer and Dr. Margaret Deery for Sustainable Tourism CRC, Australia

44th ICCA Congress & Exhibition 44th ICCA Congress & Exhibition Montevideo, Uruguay 2005Montevideo, Uruguay 2005

Current Study: Measures of economic contribution of meetings industry

Meetings industry is important part of tourism but not reflected properly in official statistics

Aims to encourage WTO to focus more on the Meetings Industry and develop common measures of its economic contribution

Sponsors: WTO Affiliate Members, Reed Travel Exhibitions, ICCA and in co-operation with MPI

Background to the Study

The measurement of tourism activities is not properly adapted to identify the importance of meetings industry or its components

Little agreement on data to be collected Many statistics often not collected at all (eg. Organiser

expenditure) The statistics are often based on different measures Different definitions of ‘meetings’ Data are created for different purposes, so don't

adequately meet strict statistical requirements Varies by country

Prevents developing a global picture of the meetings industry

Size (demand side measures Vs supply side) Structure (demand side Vs supply side) Economic contribution International statistics not comparable Different definitions of ‘meetings’ generate different estimates of

their economic contribution Different economic estimation techniques using different

assumptions about the workings of the economy Funding (private Vs public) Trends, outlook

Global Trends: MeetingsWhat to believe?

• ICCA: 2004 Increase international association meeting participants

• UIA: 2004 Decline in international association meetings

• State of the Industry Report (Successful Meetings): 2004 Increase in all types of meetings and an expected increase in 2005

Sources of Market Intelligence

• The sources of market intelligence base their findings on a vast array of methods and definitions

• Information is used mainly for business planning rather than for government lobbying

• Large organizations such as ICCA provide consistent annual data, but only on international association meetings

Sources of Market Intelligence (contd)

• Other sources of information include:– Media articles/reports analysis– Media or association questionnaires of

readers/members– Business confidence barometers (eg MPI Future

Watch)– Extrapolation of general trends from city or

country statistics which are statistically valid

A Major Challenge: Definition of ‘Meetings Industry’

• Activities: Organisation Promotion sales and delivery

• Products/Services: Corporate, Association and Government Meetings Corporate Incentives Seminars Congresses, Conferences, Conventions Events, Exhibitions and Fairs

Source: WTO,ICCA,IMP proposal for the ISIC revision process

DefinitionsTYPE NO. OF

PARTICIPANTS

DURATION/

FREQUENCY

NO. OF COUNTRIES INVOLVED

OTHER SOURCE

Meetings >15 >6 hours < 2 days

- - British Conference Market Trends Survey (BCMTS)

Up to 250 On average 1 day

- - German Convention Bureau

International Meetings

> 50 >4 hours > 3 countries > 40% foreign attendees

Instituto de Turismo de Espana

> 50 >Regular basis >3 countries ICCA

> 300 > 3 days > 5 countries > 40% foreign attendees

Union of International Associations

Conference < 50 One day or less - - German Convention Bureau

International Convention

> 50 > 2 days > 3 countries > 40% foreign attendees

Instituto de Turismo de Espana

Definitions

This table highlights why there is a need for more work on a unified long-term solution to achieving consistency of definition

The situation regarding statistics for corporate meetings and even inter-governmental or inter-agency meetings like the World Bank/IMF is far worse

Aims of the Present Study

Need to explore role of the TSA to reflect the real importance of the Meetings Industry and its contribution to tourism

Incorporating meetings explicitly within the TSA would enhance credibility of any measurements of economic contribution of this industry

Tourism Satellite Accounts

A TSA provides information on the contribution of tourism to an economy, the industries which most rely on tourism, and the GDP, employment and trade impacts of tourism

The economic importance of the meetings industry is not reflected in the TSA

Eg. includes ‘meetings sector’ only indirectly (via accommodation, tour expenses, food and beverage etc.), but what about expenditures by meetings organizers?

Can TSA be modified to measure economic importance of the meetings industry?

TSA used in NBES

National Business Events Study 2005Undertaken by Sustainable Tourism CRC www.crctourism.com.au Used the TSA for Australia to assess the

Economic Contribution of the Meetings Industry

NBES is an initial attempt to develop consistent and credible techniques of measurement for meetings industry

Hot Item: WTO recommends new International Standard Industrial Classification of All

Economic Activities (ISIC)

Implies recognition of the meetings industry into the official UN industry classifications code system

8230 Convention and trade show organizers This class includes the organization, promotion and/or

management of events, such as business and trade shows, conventions, conferences and meetings, whether or not including the management and provision of the staff to operate the facilities in which these events take place.

Implications of ISIC 8230

• An important step towards more credible statistics on meetings industry

• But - - - while facilitating the measure of organizer expenditure there is still a need for participant surveys within the TSA with their attendant problems

• Also need to move towards consistent international definitions that can be operationalized globally

Incorporating the economic importance of the meetings industry in the TSA

The project team is developing a standard methodology to measure the value of the meetings industry based on TSA

identify the basic data units for collection of statistics explore how these fit into existing TSA statistics develop survey instruments to capture meetings related

expenditure and costs identify the indicators/variables to be used for quarterly

measurement of the performance of the meetings industry Create guidelines for the collection of statistics adapted to the

functioning of the TSA Describe the roles of the stakeholders in the process to

ensure credibility

Some questions

How long will it be before a standardized system will be possible for the meetings industry?

Does this mean that established statistical systems which some countries are using will need to be changed, or can they be incorporated as they currently stand?

What are the next practical steps?

And Finally - - -

Gracias and g’day