The Sigtunahöjden Hotel in Sigtuna, Sweden, was surveyed for the IACC’s new report. (Courtesy IACC)
Technology and a new level of customer demands continue to change the traditional experience in event and meeting spaces, says a new white paper put out by the International Association of Conference Centres.
“Guests expect more than just a big hall to meet in and a buffet lunch in 2018,” said IACC CEO Mark Cooper. “People who come to events want state-of-the art technology at their fingertips, high-end food and beverage, and a break from traditional, staid formats. Instead, they demand ‘experiences.’”
IACC studied more than 50 venues across four continents offering dedicated meeting space.
“Our report is in its third year,” Cooper said. “We survey meeting planners, venue operators and suppliers to find out what the new generation of event attendees desire when they take precious time away from the office to attend an industry event.”
Cooper said the report boiled down to the notion that planners must see “experience creation” as their main goal. “Venues must take on the role of ‘strategic consultant’ to aid planner clients in developing memorable meetings,” he said.
Ninety-three percent of operators indicated “yes” or “sometimes” that their role includes experience creation.
“As event budgets remain relatively flat while prices continue to rise, meeting professionals will rely more heavily on their venue partners to help make choices that maintain the integrity of their brand experiences and education programs,” Cooper said.
“Operators are responding to the demands of meeting planners by offering a variety of amenities that foster experience creation, with an increased emphasis from previous years on providing onsite team-building experiences,” he said.
Among these types of amenities that venues are providing are creative meeting rooms, themed food and beverage, outdoor meeting rooms/spaces, team building, team-based sporting activities and destination-based activities.
“Staying flexible is the key,” Cooper said. “Sixty percent of operators feel that the flexibility of meeting spaces will become more important over time.”
Cooper signaled that flexible, nontraditional meeting room furniture is one of the biggest trends in meeting space development and design over the past three years.
A vast majority of the survey respondents agreed that breakout rooms are used more now than they were three years ago and that the current demand is for smaller rooms for 90 attendees or less.
“In conjunction with these results, more venues are offering collaborative networking spaces outside of meeting rooms than they did three years ago,” Cooper said.
Mark Cooper.
The report heavily highlighted the need for “solid Wi-Fi infrastructure and the bandwidth to sustain the large groups of people who will be using it.”
Attractive food offerings are now more important than ever,
according to Cooper.
“Guests are looking for food that touches all five senses,” he said. “People have dietary restrictions and preferences, allergens that need addressing, gluten-free needs, and they care about food sourcing. It’s no longer good enough to have a spread put with standard items in hot trays.”
“The lists of dietary requirements that meeting planners have to source for have become so large and diverse that it’s hard to meet the demands with a standard menu,” he said. “It’s a pain point for the industry, and it’s not going to go away. The industry needs to find better ways to collect and categorize F&B needs at events.”
Another trend is “having continuous refreshments available instead of a standard lunch or dinner break.”
Another finding was the need for a focus on “sustainability and sustainable practices in regard to their food and beverage offerings,” Cooper said. “Venues need to be aware of the high value placed on sustainability by upcoming generations.”