Two timely reports provide industry with crucial data and renewed optimism.
Simon Hughes, former chairman of Eventia
Two important pieces of research were published in July 2013. The first positions the UK events industry as the UK’s 16th largest employer and claims it’s worth £58.4 billion to the UK’s gross domestic product – three times greater than the agricultural sector. A second study shows increased optimism amongst venues and suppliers, with 53% of survey respondents expecting improvements in business during 2013, compared with 43% in 2012.
The latter is the UK Events Market Trends Survey (UKEMTS13), undertaken annually by Eventia. The increased optimism reported has led to one in four UK venues planning capital investment projects worth upwards of £100,000 during 2013.
The first piece of research was commissioned by the MPI Foundation, and part-funded by International Confex, to determine the economic value of the events sector using comparable and standardised methodology, which has been used in other countries.
This long-awaited MPI UK Economic Impact Study determines that more than 1.3 million meetings were held in the UK during 2011, attended by 116 million people who spent almost £40 billion. This data is backed up by UKEMTS13, which reveals there were also around 1.3 million meetings staged in 2012, with a slightly lower attendance than the year before.
The MPI-led study defines a meeting as more than four hours, for more than ten people in a contracted venue. The survey, carried out in 2012, only covers 2011 but gained 3,350 responses from venues, attendees and planners.
Other interesting points that came out in the results of the MPI-led survey included the number of meetings staged on average during the year by individual organisers, which was 147. Plus, the fact that venues only reported an average 34% meetings occupancy rate, meaning there’s a lot more business that can be gained by venues with available conference and events space.
Anthony Hyde, The Barbican’s general manager of business events, claims that the study should be used to influence change within businesses. He says: “This is just what I need to go back to my bosses with. We recognise where the growth is but we need investment and need to ask for it from the powers that be. We always knew that February is traditionally a slow month for example but this survey gives us the statistics to prove it.”
Neil Brownlee, head of business events for VisitScotland, says that he will not be shy about pushing the implications of the MPI survey to both government and industry. He says: “This is the first proper measurement of what we do. Business Tourism pulls from all sectors so we will work with Scottish Development International to ensure they understand the full impact.”
Simon Hughes, former chairman of Eventia, believes that both reports contain crucial data and provide a unique barometer of what’s happening in the business events sector.
He says: “The UKEMTS13 findings, taken together with the UKEIS data, provide the industry with some powerful promotional and advocacy tools. Eventia will certainly be using the market intelligence revealed in the two surveys for education, marketing and lobbying purposes.”
Highlights from UK Economic Impact Study
• The UK meetings industry delivers £58.4 billion to the UK’s GDP
• The total GDP generated by meetings accounts for about 2.9% of the UK GDP
• The meetings industry contributed £21.1 billion in taxes
• Attendees spent just under £40 billion attending UK meetings
• Organisers staged on average 147 events in the year and received £11 billion from hosting meetings in the UK and £1.4 billion from hosting meetings outside the UK
• The meetings industry is the UK’s 16th largest employer with more than 515,000 individuals directly employed – double that of the telecoms industry
• More than 1.3 million meetings were held in the UK in 2011 in more than 10,000 venues
• Whilst large hotels hosted most meetings, unusual and unique venues proved popular for conference organisers and small hotels more popular for incentive events
Article by
Mike Fletcher