Research on the European Market August 2022
Tourism Australia partnered with MMGY Travel Intelligence on the second phase of its Portrait of European Meeting & Convention Travel. The research examines the mindsets, intentions and preferences of both delegates and professional planners.
The comprehensive survey collected data between 11 July to 3 August from 1,600 respondents. Planners surveyed were predominately based in Germany, the UK, and Belgium; while attendees are divided equally among the UK, the Netherlands, Germany and France.
To help inform our approach to rebuild demand from our key markets and support industry in the process, Tourism Australia contributed custom questions to the research, with key findings below.
Outlook on Australia
Meeting planners indicated the top three factors affecting their decision in holding an in-person meeting in Australia were the time associated with travelling to Australia; the overall cost of holding an event in Australia; and flights with no stopover.
While their top three barriers to holding a meeting and event in Australia were distance, distance of travel, and cost of travel.
Meeting delegates indicated in the research they are more likely to attend meetings in Australia with a longer timeframe. Sixty-five per cent indicated they were likely to attend an event in Australia during the period of July 2024 to July 2025 compared to 58 per cent for January 2023 to July 2023.
In addition to this, meeting delegates indicated the top three factors affecting their decision to attend an international meeting in Australia was the additional time, process and costs of travelling during COVID-19; concerns about travelling in general; and government regulations related to COVID-19.
Travellers entering Australia no longer need to provide evidence of vaccination status and are no longer required to complete a Digital Passenger Declaration. Tourism Australia has been actively communicating this information with customers through its business events marketing and distribution activity.
Key findings from the research
Below is an overview of the key findings from the overall research.
- Nearly all planners and attendees foresee an increase in prices for the remainder of the year due to rising air fares, accommodation costs, and fees to hire venues and event spaces.
- Hybrid meetings are here to stay but have lost importance since Spring 2022, with three out of four meeting planners booking in-person meetings, demonstrating a sharp increase at the expense of hybrid.
- Planners and attendees want something unique in meeting venues, but attendees still tend to prefer the hotel and hotel conference room and are more likely to attend this type of venue over a unique or historic alternative.
- The need for sustainable meetings and events has significantly increased compared to pre-pandemic, more so for planners than attendees. However, two out of three attendees indicate that they would be willing to pay more for sustainable programs.
- Planners and attendees agreed that they see measuring the carbon footprint of all travel and carbon offset programs as a key sustainability effort.
Published: 15 November 2022
