March saw increased meeting activity in St. Louis, Mo., with the city leading the top 25 markets in the month for meetings and events, according to latest data by Knowland. Meeting activity grew 24.3% YOY in St. Louis.
Las Vegas came in second in March, with 20.9% growth. National Association and education groups led in four of the five top markets.
Overall YOY event volume for the industry, however, slipped to -8.1% due to an early Easter and the accompanying Spring Break.
Average space used for events in the top 25 markets stood at 3,526 square feet, while it was marginally less at secondary markets (3,181 square feet). Average number of attendees in March were 124 in top 25 markets, while secondary markets averaged 119 attendees.
TOP 5 MARKETS
Sporting events helped St. Louis race to the top position in March, as average space used was 3,979 square feet for 158 average attendees. Social/sports and National Association events were the main drivers, including events such as the Missouri Valley Conference for Men’s Basketball, Mid-American Open Chess tournament, American Collegiate Hockey Association and the Hockey National Championships.
Here are the top five markets by YOY growth in terms of event volume:
- St. Louis, Mo.: Social-sports, National Association, education, charity/non-profit/social services, healthcare.
- Las Vegas (+20.9%): education, technology, National Association, wedding, training/education.
- Oahu Island, Hawaii (+4.9%): Education, financial/banking, National Association, travel, wedding.
- Nashville, Tenn. (+3.4%): National Association, technology, healthcare, financial/banking, manufacturing.
- Seattle (+11.5%): National Association, charity/non-profit/social services, education, technology, healthcare.
TOP 5 SECONDARY MARKETS
Associations and education led among industries. The five leading secondary markets and top industries were:
- Greensboro-Winston Salem, N.C. (+45.54%): Consulting
- Colorado Springs, Colo. (+37.29%): Training/education
- Louisville, Ky. (+35.68%): Charity/non-profit/social services
- Lexington, Ky. (+31.4%): Construction
- Rhode Island (+26.55%): Charity/non-profit/social
The data was derived from Knowland’s sales intelligence platform and helps hoteliers grow and protect their revenue base. The insights are a result of the analysis of meetings and events data acquired through Knowland’s data collection and aggregation methods, which include field reporting and automated methods of customer and non-customer data collection in primary, secondary and tertiary markets and its extensive historical database.