Capitalising on MICE business opportunities could be a gamechanger for hospitality brands’ business recovery in 2022 and 2023. This month HSMAI Europe held an in-person event in London including networking and a series of virtual events for our DACH, French, Benelux, Nordic and Spanish members to explore the current MICE marketplace and B2B opportunities. We teamed up with Cvent – a market leader in hospitality and event technology to hear their valuable insights for 10 countries in Europe, based on data from its platform around sourcing venues and requests for RFPs. Attendees were also given a ‘first view’ of the soon-to-be published Cvent Planner Sourcing 2022: Europe edition.
The report features the results from a recent research study conducted amongst 500 MICE planners across the region.
As ever, we are so grateful to everyone who gave their time and support to the events including the facilitators:
- Knut Lie, Sales Director of HSMAI Europe,
- Per Griwell, Commercial Director at Thon Hotels,
- Remy Merckx, Head of Travel and Hospitality at e-Clerx,
- Andreas Kohn, Director Commercial, Continental Europe at InterContinental Hotels Group
- Anant Vithlani, Vice President of Sales at Nordic Choice Hotels
And to all those that took part in the panel discussions:
- Christian Stenseng, Country Manager Norway at George P Johnson Experience Marketing
- Karla Pearce, Senior Marketing Manager – Europe at Cvent
- Graham Pope, Vice President of Sales at Cvent
- Rob Van Der Beek, General Manager at Deutsche Hospitality Group
- Pieter Krooss, Sales Director EMEA at BCD Meetings & Events Germany GmbH
- Silke Groß, Market Head at BCD Meetings & Events Germany GmbH
- Jonathon Liu, Director of Revenue & Marketing Strategy at glh Hotels
- Oscar Carty, Manager of Sales, Europe at Cvent
Here are the highlights:
First view of Cvent 2022 Planner Survey Report: Europe
- In-person business events are back! Seven in ten planners across Europe are sourcing these types of events in the first quarter of 2022;
- There is good news and a call to action for hoteliers/venue providers to capitalise on the MICE side of business – nearly seven in ten (68 per cent) of planners said their budget expenditure for in-person and hybrid events has increased to pre-pandemic levels;
- Planners are sourcing for all types of events; with hybrid cited as the top type of event, followed closely by in-person;
- Hotels and other venues will need to look at how they can adapt and make the necessary changes to ensure they are accommodating the planners’ new requirements in 2022– particularly in light that hybrid events are the top choice of event they are sourcing for;
- Respondents of the research cited onsite production and technology expertise, venue/meeting room rates and health and safety protocols as the top considerations when choosing a venue and
- Hotels and other hospitality venues will need to review the changing technology requirements of planners; side to side venue comparisons, virtual tours and virtual site visits and interactive event space diagrams were listed as the most important tools/features for them during the sourcing process. This will become increasingly important as more planners are becoming environmental conscious and are looking to reduce international travel /visits pre the event.
Additional data insights for planners sourcing in the following regions
RFP volumes across the UK and Europe in Quarter 1 2022 have nearly bounced back to 2019 levels. From Quarter 2 2022 onwards, there are clear signs of reaching the same level and in some regions, exceed levels from three years ago.
- 257 per cent volume increase in RFPs in January 2022 compared to January 2021
- Top industry sectors for sourcing events include Health and Pharma, Accounting, Business Services and Travel, Recreation and Leisure
- 231 per cent volume increase in RFPs in January 2022 compared to January 2021
- Top industry sectors for sourcing events include Healthcare and Pharma, Financial Services and Travel and Leisure
- 336 per cent volume increase in RFPs in January 2022 compared to January 2021
- Top industry sectors for sourcing events include Business Services, Healthcare and Pharma, Software, Travel and Leisure
- 338 per cent volume increase in RFPs in January 2022 compared to January 2021
- Top industry sectors for sourcing events include Healthcare and Pharma, Business Services and Travel and Leisure
- 757 per cent volume increase in RFPs in January 2022 compared to January 2021
- Top industry sectors for sourcing events include Healthcare and Pharma, Business Services and Software and Travel and Leisure
UK
- 658 per cent volume increase in RFPs in January 2022 compared to January 2021
- Top industry sectors for sourcing events include Accounting and Tax, Computer Electronics, Software and Healthcare and Pharma
