Photo by iStockphoto.com / © Eliza Snow

In news that comes as no surprise to those in the event and meetings industry, the average meeting planner expects to cancel or postpone meetings worth $560,000 in room revenue in 2009 and 2010, according to a recent survey conducted by the Professional Convention Management Association, American Express, and the Y Partnership.

Those canceled or rebooked meetings account for, on average, $81,000 per planner in penalty fees. Fifty-five percent of the survey respondents were association meeting professionals and 45 percent were corporate or incentive meeting pros.

When projected to include all PCMA members and AMEX clients, that’s $781 million in lost hotel room revenue and $2.5 billion in total revenue lost for destinations, hotels, and meeting suppliers, but--according to Peter Yesawich, chairman and chief executive officer at the Y Partnership, an advertising and public relations agency--account for just a fraction of the universe of planners.

The report, called, “The Meetings Market: Outlook 2009/2010,” surveyed 516 meeting planners in April and May, seeking to gauge their intentions over the next 19 months in the face of a struggling economy and media backlash about meetings.

For more, visit our sister publications' site, MeetingsNet.

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