Results offer unique insights for hospitality professionals to attract more events and meetings business to their venues

Cvent, a market leader in events and hospitality technology, released the results of its first-ever Australian edition of the annual Cvent Planner Sourcing Report. The report outlines the results of a survey among planners from more than 100 organisations and explores how meeting planners source venues and what influences their decision-making. This is the fifth year that Cvent has delivered the report, but it is the first year the company has unveiled a report exclusive to the Australian market. The findings offer Australian hospitality professionals the key insights and data they need to improve their services and attract a greater share of the local business events market. The report was launched at the AACB Annual Conference: Destination Business Events at Melbourne.

In the report, event planners revealed how they allocate their event budgets: 96% of planners spend a majority of their budgets on sourcing quality venues, while 76% and 68% spend on providing better onsite experiences – including food and beverage and promoting their event through digital marketing campaigns, respectively. Planners also revealed that while their budgets have not increased significantly year-over-year, event attendance has, meaning planners are under added pressure to create compelling, tightly managed, and financially successful event experiences.

“This is the first time we've released an Australia Edition of the Cvent Planner Sourcing Report, which highlights the growing impact that business events have in the region,” said Chris McAndrews, vice president of marketing for Cvent Hospitality Cloud. “The results from this year’s report help to uncover important factors that influence the venue sourcing process. For example, while event budgets are not increasing for Australian event organisers, expectations are higher than ever for them to deliver an impactful experience. The hoteliers who are able to take these insights and apply the findings to their MICE sales and marketing strategies are the ones who will reap the benefits."

Additional findings from the report include:

Event professionals are planning more events than ever before – which means that there are more opportunities for venues and hotels.

• Over 70% of respondents say they organise more than eleven events each year, while 10% said they organise more than fifty events a year.
• 45% of respondents said attendance has increased at most of their primary meeting types.

Venue sourcing continues to go digital. With the right online presence and digital marketing tools, hoteliers have a unique opportunity to influence a planner’s venue selection.

• 50% of respondents said that corporate websites, search engines, and online sourcing tools influence their sourcing decisions.
• 30% of respondents utilise smartphones and tablets to source venues. Hotels need to optimise their mobile presence and better integrate technology into their sales, marketing, and event support processes.

Event planners frequently seek assistance from external resources, highlighting the importance for hotels and venues to build and maintain strong relationships with the wider business events industry stakeholders.

70% of survey respondents said that they work with external planning or destination-related organisations, including:

• Professional conference organisers (41%)
• Convention and Visitors Bureaus (23%)
• Destination Management Companies (6%)

Though planners remain sensitive to costs, other factors including space layout, location, and brand reputation are important.

• 71% of planners expect cost savings of at least 6% before considering a switch to their second-choice venue.
• Nearly 50% expect a cost-savings of at least 10% before considering a switch to their second-choice venue. This demonstrates that planners are willing to invest more if they believe a venue can provide their organisation with a memorable event experience.
• Hotel professionalism helps to retain planner loyalty and is a key part of the selection process, while meeting space layout is also a key factor.
• Planners ranked hotel professionalism (36%) higher than venue cost (33%), booking experience (20%), and available dates (16%).
• 49% of respondents rank size and adequacy of meeting space as the most important factors when considering whether to return to a venue.

The full Cvent 2019 Event Planner Sourcing Report for Australia can be read here.

About Hospitality Cloud

The Cvent Hospitality Cloud partners with hotels and venues to help them drive profitable group and corporate travel business. Event planners and corporate travel managers source more than USD $16 billion dollars in business through Cvent’s online platforms each year, and the Cvent Hospitality Cloud offers clients direct access to these buyers. Using Cvent digital marketing tools and software solutions, hoteliers attract valuable leads to grow their business, maximize the value of that business, and strengthen direct customer relationships. By connecting hotels with buyers and providing technology for winning and servicing customers, Cvent Hospitality Cloud helps hoteliers grow and own their group and corporate travel business. For more information regarding the Cvent Hospitality Cloud, visit https://www.cvent.com/au/hospitality-cloud.