January U.S. monthly meetings and events volume increased 7.3% over the previous month, according to the latest data from Knowland, a provider of group hospitality analytics for hotels, convention and visitor bureaus, conference centers and other meeting venues.
The new year started slowly but picked up pace as the month continued. Several key markets rebounded which added to the increases.
- The average number of attendees in January was 42, compared to 37 in January 2020.
- The average space used in January was 1,550 sq. ft., while meetings in January 2020 averaged 1,218 sq. ft.
- Month over month, the top five growth markets were Fort Lauderdale, FL; Dallas; Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN; Washington, DC; and Atlanta.
- Corporate meetings produced most of the activity with 63.7% of total meetings for the month.
“The new year started slowly but built up momentum,” said Kristi White, VP of product management, Knowland. “Markets that had closed in December reopened and began to rebound quickly. Additionally, unlike prior months, the leading growth markets in January were in the top 25 markets. Through the fall, we saw most of the growth limited to secondary and tertiary markets, so to see top 25 markets enter the fray is a healthy sign of recovery for the first quarter.”