Knowland: Meetings and events grew 15 percent in November

MEETINGS AND GROUP events in the U.S. increased 15 percent in November, according to group hospitality analytics firm Knowland. Most of the events were generated by corporations.

Meeting volume still remains well below 2019 levels, according to Knowland’s monthly report. The increase in volume also was substantially less than the 53.6 percent month-over-month growth Knowland reported in October.

In other findings, the average number of event attendees this November was 45 compared to 59 in November 2019. The average space used in November 2020 also declined, coming in at 1,786 square feet this year while meetings at this time last year averaged 2,100 square feet.

Growth from month to month was around 15 percent for both primary markets and secondary or tertiary markets. Top growth markets were Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas, Pittsburgh and Salt Lake City, Utah. Corporate meetings produced 60.4 percent of total meetings for the month.

“Corporate business remains the driving force behind meetings and events. This is good news for hotels since this business can be influenced by hotel salespeople,” said Kristi White, Knowland’s vice president of product management. “Despite the holiday, we continued to see growth in the volume of meetings and although 2019 volumes might still be a ways off, meetings are happening and your sales teams should be hunting for them.”