Budgets for events and meetings will be stressed by rising costs this year, according to the Winter Meetings Outlook from MPI. As reported by our sister publications group, MeetingsNet, the buying power of event hosts will fall 2.5 percent due to increasing costs in essentials such as catering and AV:
In the 2016 Winter Meetings Outlook from Meeting Professionals International, respondents predicted a little spending increase but a bigger pricing increase. MPI put those predictions together and what came out was a 2.5 percent decrease in planners’ buying power. Here are the price hikes respondents said they expect during the next 12 months:
- F&B/Catering: 4.6 percent
- Audiovisual: 3.6 percent
- Air travel: 4.2 percent
- Room rates: 4.5 percent
- Meeting space: 3.3 percent
Despite what will continue to be a tough negotiating environment, respondents feel pretty optimistic overall, with nearly 7 in 10 predicting “favorable business conditions” in 2016 and only 8 percent seeing “negative business conditions” ahead.--MeetingsNet
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