Meetings, events grow 163.9% over July 2021

Knowland's monthly data for July reported an increase of 163.9 percent in meetings and events over July 2021. Although there was a 15.5 percent decline from June, this is related to normal seasonality. However, the number is still less than typically exhibited pre-COVID.

The average number of attendees per event for July was 121, compared to 64 in July 2021 and 91 in July 2019. The average space used in July was 3,088 square feet, while meetings in July 2021 averaged 2,461 square feet and 2,791 square feet in July 2019. Proportionally from a per person perspective, 2022 meeting space used an average of 26 square feet per person as opposed to 38 square feet per person in 2021 and 31 square feet per person in 2019.

The top five growth markets compared to June (in order) in July were Sarasota, Fla.; Norfolk, Va.; Buffalo, N.Y.; Kauai, Hawaii; and Raleigh-Durham, N.C.

Corporate meetings continue as the dominant segment. The corporate segment represented 58.1 percent of meeting and event business with Technology, Training/Education and Healthcare taking the lead as the largest industry segments. From a recovery standpoint compared to July 2019 levels, Online Retailer, Urban Infrastructure, Sports Entertainment/Media, Engineering and Construction were the segments at the highest level of recovery captured in July of 2022.

“July is always the low point of the summer months, with corporate meetings taking a minor step back while SMERF business surges forward," Knowland Chief Product Office Kristi White said in a statement. "This is exactly the behavior we saw this July. Additionally, the dip from June to July was less than in years pre-pandemic. Even with the dip, the U.S. market recovered at 81.4 percent in July ahead of the 80.1 percent we saw in June.”