During the
pandemic, uncertainty - and the stress it caused – was a daily torment for association meeting planners who found themselves praying for powers of divination.
While the
case rate remained high and deaths were still being counted in the thousands per day, the
lifting of restrictions always came with a dreaded caveat: this could be temporary.
Now, with the
threat of lockdown gone in most countries, the opportunity for meeting planners
to see jobs through to completion is approaching pre-pandemic levels.
According to
a survey of 467 planners in the latest Northstar/Cvent Pulse Survey, cancellations
and reschedulings are down to 8 per cent, the lowest since the survey began in March 2020.
This is positive
news, and should not be dismissed lightly.
But this is not
the ‘recovery’ anyone wanted. Planners are now caught in the cruel pincers of a
labour and skills crisis and rocketing inflation, the latter exacerbated by war
in Ukraine.
These twin
pressures have seen confidence fluctuate, peaking at the end of March, when 75
per cent of planners said they were ‘more optimistic’, before falling to 48 per
cent in June.
Confidence
is now less about whether meetings can go ahead and more about the overall economic
picture and how that is affecting the quality of experience organisers can
deliver.
Anyone who
has waited hours for their luggage to arrive in Baggage Reclaim or wondered why
nobody is around to check them into their hotel room, will attest to the staffing
crisis.
And while these
might seem like first world problems, they could spell trouble for discretionary
business travel at a time when budgets are being reined in.
Concerns
about hotel staffing levels and airline service have increased since the start
of the year, according to the survey, but cost remains the biggest worry
for planners.
These
concerns are inseparable.
If this was
the year international, in-person meetings were meant to bounce back – the experience
will have left many asking the only question that really matters: was it worth
it?
There are no easy answers to any of this, and, painful though
it is to report, meeting planners must brace themselves for things getting
worse before they improve.
According to
the World Bank, international growth is expected to slump from
5.7 percent in 2021 to 2.9 percent in 2022— significantly lower than 4.1
percent that was anticipated in January. And it is expected to hover around
that pace over the next two years.
Striking a
gloomy note, World Bank president David Malpass observed that, ‘the war in Ukraine, lockdowns in China, supply-chain
disruptions, and the risk of stagflation are hammering growth. For many
countries, recession will be hard to avoid'.
What’s
needed now is for the meetings industry to pull together to ensure the individual
delegate experience is as good as it can possible be, external factors notwithstanding.
Organisers, venues, destinations, and other suppliers to the meetings industry need
to get creative to make this happen.
Happily, it
looks like that creativity is already kicking in, with 60+ per cent of planners
reporting that they have been able to reduce costs ‘in areas that will not
diminish attendee experience’.
If organisations
can deliver the wow factor inside the meeting venue, delegates may be prepared
to overlook below par performances elsewhere in the supply chain. Unfortunately for meeting planners
that means a continuation of the relentless pressure they endured during the pandemic.
- A session exploring the mental health impact of
the pandemic on meeting and event planners will take place at this year’s The Meeting Show. Is the meetings
industry suffering from PTSD? will take place on The London Stage at 9:50am
on Thursday, June 30th.
Written By
James Lancaster
AMI editor James
Lancaster is a familiar face in the meetings industry and international
association community. Since joining AMI in 2010, he has gained a reputation
for asking difficult questions and getting lost in convention centres. Proofer, podcaster, and panellist - in his spare time, James likes to walk,
read, listen to music, and drink beer.
