A healthy 64 percent of party rental operators say they expect to produce more special events in 2012 than they did this year. The findings come from a survey conducted annually for the last 10 years by Penton Media, parent company of Special Events.

Last year, 61 percent of respondents said they expected to handle more events in 2011 than they did in 2010. This figure was a sharp increase from the low point of three years ago, when only 37 percent predicted a better year ahead.

(See the 2011 Rental Forecast here.)

For the 2012 forecast, 18 percent of respondents said they expect to produce the same amount of events in 2012 as they did in 2011.

IS CORPORATE MARKET COMING BACK?

Sixty percent of respondents say they expect business from "business/corporate events" to be stronger in 2012. Fifteen percent say they expect it will be about the same, while 6 percent expect this revenue stream to fall off in 2012.

Fifty-eight percent of respondents say that business from "social/private events" will be better in 2012. Twenty-four percent predict that it will be about the same, while 3 percent expect it to decrease.

In what may be a reflection of the wild swings in the stock market and resulting sense of uncertainty about what will happen next, 15 percent of respondents say they are "unsure" what will happen in the social market.

(Read more about how "worry over the economy" is the No. 1 concern of special event professionals.)

(Read more about how the economy affects the special event industry.)

See the full story in the January-February issue of Special Events.

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2011 Special Events Rental Industry Forecast