MarketID Market Pulse

Looking for your next event destination? Immerse yourself in these six stunning 360º video virtual event destination tours.

For several years, the meetings industry has been focused on the rise of event technology. Yet somehow "revenue management" software has been overlooked. T

Zurich is the only non-Asian city to crack the top 5

Many travelers have a favorite movie, TV show or novel in mind when booking a vacation and some destinations want to give them a face to remember, too. Sometimes these official tourism ambassadors — often movie stars or other A-list celebrities who are either paid or have pro bono agreements with tourism boards to promote destinations — …

Although it is strong, optimism is still down from 2013, according to the IRF's new Net Optimism Score.

The Future of Meetings & Events What a difference a year makes. South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin kicks off on Friday with a ton of sessions focusing on politics, diversity, and inclusivity. Last year at SXSW 2016, President Obama attended to speak about the future growth of the U.S. tech sector. This year, much of the pre-event buzz …

They're digitally obsessed, adventurous, and down to do business like they do leisure.

The Future of Meetings & Events I took my first ride inside an autonomous vehicle in Las Vegas recently. The Paris-based Nayva company launched the first driverless shuttles on U.S. public streets here following the CES 2017 conference. Audi is also test driving its new Vehicle-To-Infrastructure (V2I) technology using Las Vegas’ Internet of Things (IoT) network, where …

Just when you’ve gotten your mind around Uber and Airbnb for events, along come these potential game changers for the sharing economy and meetings.

Here's how some enterprising DMOs are tailoring their outreach to attract younger meeting professionals and the business they wield.

Young business travelers in Europe's biggest markets are more likely than their older counterparts to use sharing economy services such as Uber and Airbnb,

The Future of Meetings & Events Inclusivity and diversity were the two big themes at the 31st annual South By Southwest Conference in Austin last week.

President Trump’s travel ban has caused some destinations and tourism organizations to project fewer international visitors to the U.S. in 2017, but the U.S. outbound travel forecast is much brighter. The number of foreign trips by U.S. travelers is expected to grow 5.4 percent in 2017, according to a new World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) …

SXSW doesn’t change much itself. But this year, a few brands and agencies are scaling back by hosting smaller events or sending fewer people to the conference.

The travel industry has cause for concern about the impact of an updated ban on travelers entering the United States, a new survey shows. According to the Global Business Travel Association, European companies especially anticipate a reduction of business travel to the United States because of the new order. President Donald Trump signed the latest ban on …

Airports didn’t turn into massive protest zones on Monday, and travelers with valid visas were not suddenly detained at borders. But the latest version of President Donald Trump’s executive order banning travel from six countries is still making employers concerned about business travel. A new survey conducted by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives shows that 45 …

On Monday, March 6, President Trump took a second stab at a travel ban with the signing of a new executive order, due to take effect on March 16. One of the biggest changes is that Iraq has been scratched off the list — countries now affected include Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen …

Executive SummaryCustomizable, "white-box" venues instead of hotel ballrooms, virtual tour offerings instead of site visits, and service over space. These are among the latest trends for those planning a meeting or event, according to a recent survey of corporate and social event planners conducted by Convene. Corporate planners, which made up a whopping 82% of our survey audience, are typically in charge of internal employee trainings, town halls, product launches, executive retreats, trade shows, brainstorming sessions and conferences, and social planners, which made up 18% of our survey audience, are responsible for weddings, happy hours, celebratory events, benefits, tour groups, media events and roundtable discussions.Despite the differences in event types, the data found common trends are shared by both. For example, many planners expressed an interest in going on a virtual tour of prospective spaces, so that they could save time while still getting an immerse, "real-world" experience with the venue. Planners also said they preferred to receive a curated list of recommended vendors and outside venues from the event space. However, the biggest commonality was the lack of excitement about the current event offerings that spaces provide.After crunching the data, we gained insights from both corporate and social event planners on what they are clamoring for, and how venues can give best give them what they need.Let's take a look.Survey Pool: Cities of The WorldWhen asked where they typically host meetings or events, 100% of our respondents plan in New York City. Washington, D.C. came in second, with San Francisco and Chicago tied for third. London was represented as well, with 24% of respondents hosting a number of events there. Rounding out the list were the major cities of Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Boston. Respondents were also responsible for creating events in international hubs such as Switzerland, Chile, Barcelona, Shanghai, Toronto, Singapore and Hong Kong. I. White-Box Vs. All-Inclusive Venues Our survey revealed two main types of event planners—those who want to do everything themselves, and those who want everything sorted before they have to step in.The highest percentage of event organizers, 34%, think that "bespoke is best." In other words, they prefer to work with "white-box," general-purpose venues that let them customize the event and bring in their own vendors. What are they looking to have control over? Space, for one thing. According to one respondent, one of the primary deciders when it came to choosing these venues were how easy it was to find floor plans and capacity charts online. For others, it was inclusion of snacks and beverages in rental fees. "With tightening budgets, something like [free food and drink] is always a bonus and can make a venue stand out from similar competition," says Sarah Bondar, a senior account executive at The Charles Group.Aseneth Quiñones, an event specialist at Unilever, had a different suggestion for how white-box spaces can draw in planners. "More spaces should include pictures of their best events, and put them in a slideshow on their site. If they add in the right music, a short video clip, and highlight how much fun people are having, their venue will really pop," adds Quiñones. At the other end of the spectrum of respondents, 31% of the organizers prefer specialized venues that prepackage almost everything. That way, hosts can focus on engaging with the attendees.The data shows the largest shift in the decline in preference for hotel settings. Once the gold standard for meeting planners, hotels were preferred by less than 20% of respondents, which came as a surprise to our folks internally. II. Service Matters Over Space As working styles evolve, planners are thinking about their needs in terms of service rather than space. Planners are seeking out venues that leave the door open for high-end service, and they're also looking to venues for help in sourcing service providers. Take networking events. Of all the social events our respondents hosted, networking receptions and happy hours topped the list as most popular. Even among corporate events, networking and holiday parties were only second to conferences and summits, with client meetings in third. Despite their popularity, however, many respondents indicated that they struggled to find venues that could provide unique mixers. "Unfortunately I haven't actually been to any happy hour events where anything was elevated," says Bondar. "I would suggest that venues include something like karaoke, especially if prizes are involved. That could make a happy hour really memorable."Some of our respondents had other suggestions. "You must have a wonderful location and great entertainment to elevate a happy hour,"Quiñones said. "I would recommend unique specialty drinks. It's important to present cocktails in ways that are outside the box."Where else are planners looking for help? Nearly 11% want event spaces to provide lists of preferred local venues, like bars for happy hours and restaurants for attendee networking; 12.5% of respondents want a list of preferred vendors - florists, printers, facilitators, planners, etc. III. What's Missing for Meeting PlannersAdequate and available staff—whether a point of contact for VIPs, a local marketer, volunteers, drivers or caterers—is a major bugaboo for planners; 17% of respondents indicated that venues typically don't provide enough staff to support their events.Additionally, a significant number of respondents said virtual tours of event spaces were absent from their meeting planning process. "I'd love virtual venue tours to become commonplace," adds Bondar. "It's great to have access to venues from the comfort of my desk as often as needed, without incurring flight costs or having to take the time away from my busy schedule for travel!"While adjusting to some of the new needs of meeting planners might seem like a bigger investment in time and resources, it's one worth making! After all, it's becoming clearer that the bar is being raised, and 2017 will be a big year of innovation in the events industry. "People will likely make some expensive mistakes by experimenting more this year," says Convene's Raymond Cheng. "But at the same time, these meeting scientists will also be able to engineer amazing outcomes by challenging themselves and add more desserts to that cookie cutter event."

How technology and Entrepreneurs are upgrading events

Amazon is looking to transform just about every industry. Now, the Seattle tech juggernaut wants to reinvent how you conduct meetings and conference calls.