The number of meeting planners with face-to-face programs on the books for the second half of 2021 is increasing quickly, according to the latest i-Meet survey of meeting and event planner sentiment.
About 52 percent of 262 respondents surveyed May 24-30 had contracted in-person events for the third quarter of 2021, up from the 39 percent of 209 respondents surveyed May 3-9 who said they did. About 64 percent in the most recent survey indicated they had meetings contracted for the fourth quarter, up from 55 percent, and 59 percent had them contracted for the first quarter of 2022, up from 49 percent. About 53 percent are on the books for the second quarter of 2022, up from 45 percent.
The percentage of respondents with no face-to-face events on the books declined to 5 percent in the most recent survey from 12 percent earlier in May.
The latest survey added a question about locations, which received responses listing 609 markets, according to i-Meet founder and CEO John Pino.
The top five U.S. markets where respondents plan to hold face-to-face events from July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022, are Orlando, Las Vegas, Dallas, Washington, D.C., and Chicago, in that order, according to the survey.
I-Meet had been surveying the industry on a weekly basis for about 13 months after the pandemic started, but now is conducting its surveys every other week.
