Do the findings of the latest MPI barometer seem to you to be in line with the trends you are seeing in the French market?
Véronique Holveck - MPI's barometer, the Meetings Outlook, is consolidated on a quarterly basis from our active members made up of MICE planners - including professional congress organisers (PCOs) - and event suppliers. It is managed with the support of our partner the IMEX Group. Although 70% of our members are based in the USA, where the association has its head office in Dallas, the information gathered is largely similar to that found on the French market. For example, 81% of those surveyed in our latest Meetings Outlook expect favourable conditions in the MICE business over the next 12 months. For our French members, events and incentive travel will also continue to grow steadily until the end of 2023, with a more concrete projection favoured by the reopening of borders and the upturn in international travel.
How do you feel about the recovery of the meetings and events business in France, and how do you see the end of 2023?
Véronique Holveck - 84% of MICE professionals surveyed by MPI expect to return to more than 50% of their pre-pandemic business volume this year. More than a third of our respondents are optimistic about returning to at least 90% of their business volume in 2023, and 15% of them even hope to exceed 100% by the end of the year.
Has this upturn in activity been accompanied by a change in the demands made by organisers? Or is it simply a "return to normal"?
Véronique Holveck - For 83% of our global panel, and even 97% for French respondents, face-to-face events and meetings are essential and will once again be the main format to be favoured in 2023. When choosing a destination, health conditions are now less important, and the reopening of borders is leading to an increase in the organisation of international seminars and events compared with the last two years.
Does the pricing issue automatically lead to a general reduction in the number of participants?
Véronique Holveck - La quality of local service providers remains the decisive criterion for choosing a destination, and secondly, the budget remains an important factor in decision making. Inflation is a real brake. 55% of our respondents said that catering costs (F&B) had increased by more than 10 % over the last 12 months. Similar cost increases - in excess of 10 % - were also reported for other services: 50% of our respondents reported similar cost increases foraccommodation45% for the transport and 44% of them noted similar mark-ups (10% minimum) for material audiovisual. To remedy this, the hotels, sites and partners are trying to compensate for loss of income and profits. Companies are adapting by reducing the size and duration of their eventsMICE planners work with suppliers who are more national than regional in scope, so that they can better increase their opportunities to sell their products. tariff negotiations. Our international panel also points out that the overall number of participants is declining because the hybrid meeting is still favoured to avoid major logistical costs when it comes to bringing in participants from all over the world.
With teleworking, some employees have left their company headquarters. Is the increased need to maintain links between teams reflected in customer requests?
Véronique Holveck - Yes, that's right. sharp increase in the number of incentives Since the end of the pandemic crisis, companies have needed to motivate their staff and quickly foster the team cohesion that has been suffering since 2019. Requests for seminars are almost always accompanied by activities. team building.
During the crisis, many observers predicted the advent of the hybrid format. Has this been borne out in the French market? Or have we put away the capture equipment and gone back to traditional formats?
Véronique Holveck - First finding: 83% of our respondents would prefer to participate in or organise face-to-face events over the next 12 months. But although face-to-face meetings are desired, the projections for virtual participation remain fairly stable in our survey for 2023 compared with 2022, although with a significant drop compared with 2022. record years in 2020 and 2021.
What are the main challenges facing France's meeting and events professionals in September?
Véronique Holveck - La cost control remains one of the greatest challenges, as does the recruitment of qualified staff in the events sector for suppliers. For organisers, it's more a question of the difficulty of setting up a quality programmewhile respecting a virtually stable budget for several years now. Inflation and the increase in costs that it automatically entails have made communication between the organiser and the service providers more than important, in order to be able to convert a file. Our respondents confirmed that budgetary constraints and price rises have led our members to negotiate more aggressively with their partners.
Is there a risk that major sporting events such as Paris 2024 will create a bottleneck in event infrastructures, and therefore further increase prices?
Véronique Holveck - With the peak number of visitors expected for these events, and in particular the Olympic Games in 2024, it is clear that the Paris hotel network, despite being much larger than that of Rio or Athens, will be saturated. Some MPI supplier members have already opened their booking schedules for the next Olympics. On the other hand, some of the capital's usual clientele are unlikely to come to avoid overcrowding during this period. This absence of the "classic" clientele, and in particular the "upmarket" clientele, could reduce the benefits for the tourism and events sector in general. Even so, with just one year to go before the start of the Olympic Games in Paris, there could be a big surprise in store for hotel rates and conference rooms.
