Leader in group hospitality analytics sees meeting growth return as new year begins
DARLINGTON, Va. — Feb. 10, 2021— January U.S. monthly meetings and events volume increased 7.3 percent over the previous month, according to the latest data from Knowland, the leader in group hospitality analytics for hotels, convention and visitor bureaus, conference centers and other meeting venues.
The new year started slowly but picked up pace as the month continued. Several key markets rebounded nicely which added to the increases.
⋅ Average attendees increased – The average number of attendees in January 2021 was 42 compared to 37 in January 2020.
⋅ Average square footage used increased – The average space used in January 2021 was 1,550 square feet while meetings in January 2020 averaged 1,218 square feet.
⋅ Individual markets still grew – Month over month, the top five growth markets were Fort Lauderdale, FL, Dallas, TX, Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN, Washington, DC, and Atlanta, GA.
⋅ Corporate meetings represent the largest meeting segment – Corporate meetings produced most of the activity with 63.7 percent of total meetings for the month.
Kristi White, vice president of product management, Knowland, said: “The new year started slowly but built up momentum. Markets that had closed in December reopened and began to rebound quickly. Additionally, unlike prior months, the leading growth markets in January were in the Top 25 Markets. Through the fall, we saw most of the growth limited to secondary and tertiary markets, so to see Top 25 Markets enter the fray is a healthy sign of recovery for the first quarter.”
