23 March 2009

Meetings sector demands more teleconferencing to cut costs

The cost of holding business meetings is likely to fall by at least 30% this year as venues cut rates.

A report by venue sourcing specialists Grass Roots HBI reports shrinking venue rates with reductions of between 5% and 10% already achieved during the first few weeks of 2009.

The agency predicts reductions of up to 30% during the year.

It predicts that meeting and event budgets will fall by six per cent this year. Seventeen per cent of corporate planners and 12% of association meeting planners predict budget reductions.

Corporate planners foresee a 9% drop in volume, but agents expect only a reduction of 0.5%.

There will also be a focus on domestic meetings rather than international.

And 11% of meeting professionals expect an increase in the use of technology - especially on-site - to access meetings and content remotely, in order to help lower overall costs.

The company, which placed more than £120 million of meetings spend on behalf of its corporate clients last year, said there was an increased demand for teleconferencing facilities in meetings, particularly to save time and travel costs for senior executives.

Other changes in the sector include increasing compliance and mandates around how meetings are sourced.

The findings come in the third annual edition of its Meetings Industry Report which pulls together data from more than 70 industry associations, trade bodies and commercial companies as well Grass Roots HBI’s own research.

Managing director Des McLaughlin said: "Our clients are increasingly taking a longer-term approach, appreciating that we can best negotiate rates on their behalf when looking at total requirements over a three-six month period rather than per meeting.

"Even with shorter lead-times this means we can achieve much greater leverage on cancellation penalties.

"We already save our clients around 30% each year against published rates, and hope to improve on this figure this year."

He added: "The next step is to look at the total cost of event management beyond venue space, accommodation and catering to include live production costs, communications, registration and broader logistics."

The report reveals that meeting rates increased by just under 2% last year compared to 2007.

London continued to be the most expensive meeting destination in the UK, at an average £60.64 for day delegate and £228.04 for 24-hour rates.

The lowest average day delegate rates were in the South West at £47.12 and in the North East for 24-hour rates at £126.66.

Paris, Milan and Geneva were the most expensive international cities in which to meet with an average €94 four-star DDR. Budapest (€50), Brussels (€56) and Lisbon (€62) were the cheapest

The 175-page report found that the average working person spends eight working weeks a year in meetings.