As we near the end of 2022, the outlook for the events industry is looking more and more optimistic. Although eventprofs aren’t out of the woods yet and will continue to deal with many challenges, including inflation, into next year, the industry is clearly pushing forward on in-person gatherings and towards full recovery to pre-pandemic levels.
According to Encore’s Fall 2022 Planner Pulse Report, 70 percent of planners are booking or sourcing new events despite economic pressures, which represents just a one percentage point decrease from the summer. Only nine percent noted that they are not currently focused on in-person or hybrid events.
Hybrid events are still more common than they were pre-pandemic, but they haven’t become the next big thing (at least, not yet) that many were predicting they would be this year. Encore’s latest report also indicates that planners are increasingly going back to in-person only events, with 63 percent expecting to organize fully in-person events in both the fourth quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023.
By comparison, the percentage of eventprofs planning virtual events in each of the next two quarters is only 18 and 19 percent, respectively, and 19 and 20 percent, respectively, for hybrid. If inflation cools down and costs level off, hybrid may be more feasible for some, but if the option is strictly between virtual and in-person for the time being, it’s clear which way the industry is leaning.
Another expected impact of rising costs next year is increased budgets, which is consistent with other recent industry research. The majority of respondents to Encore’s survey (61 percent) indicated that they expect their events budgets to increase in 2023, with 68 percent expecting them to rise between 11 and 50 percent. The biggest drivers behind these increases, predictably, are food & beverage and transportation.
When it comes to venues, hotels will be the most sought-after, with 57 percent of events over the next 12 months expected to take place at hotels, an increase from 49 percent in the spring and summer reports. The most important factors in venue selection, according to the report, are meeting space layout, meeting space technology and infrastructure, and service-level expectations.