The Development Counselors International conducted a survey involving meeting planners in its aim to identify best locations and practices for meetings. The study focuses on the places that were noted for being the top choice for meetings.
While the study is mainly about the perception of meeting planners in North America regarding location, it also covered the best practices for those meetings. For this, DCI Vice President Karyl Leigh Barnes said that they went directly to the customers of the meeting industry.
The results revealed that there is fierce competition among locations for meetings. Barnes added that the the audience must be considered and understood by the marketing organizations.
The study involved 187 meeting planners who have planned meetings in and outside North America. The survey asked for their preferred locations for meetings in North America as well as in other countries. It also covered their source of influence and news, marketing techniques, preferred conferences, importance of educational trips, and ways they interact with other organizations for destination marketing.
Spain and United Kingdom emerged as two of the top nations preferred for international meeting locations. Specifically, London (20.2%) is the top choice for international meeting followed by Barcelona and Paris each getting a 10.1% share in the survey. Singapore (7.3%) and Hong Kong (6.2%) were also at the top 5.
For North American locations, Chicago (20.8%) is the most preferred followed by San Diego (18.5%) and San Francisco (18%).
The survey revealed that when it comes to international meeting destinations, the destination representatives have the highest influence (58%) with industry peers (55%) and business or personal travel (53%) not far behind.
For information, most of the meeting planners rely on convention bureaus which they contact via email or phone. While social media is influential for most individuals, a very small percentage of the respondents (2%) claim that they affect their perceptions of destinations.