Think face-to-face meetings are facing extinction? Think again. After two years spent pushing back attacks on the value and cost of meetings, industry leaders now have real facts and figures backing up their Meetings Mean Business campaign. “Economic Significance of Meetings to the U.S. Economy,” a study just released by the Convention Industry Council, found that 205 million people attended 1.8 million meetings in 2009—one of the worst years for the meetings industry. Those numbers directly resulted in 1.7 million jobs, $263 billion in spending, a $106 billion contribution to GDP, $60 billion in labor revenue, $14.3 billion in federal tax revenue, and $11.3 billion in state and local tax revenue.
“After a time in which our industry was significantly misunderstood and vilified to a certain extent, we needed common data to demonstrate the contribution this industry makes to jobs, the economy, and taxes,” said Bruce MacMillan, president and chief executive officer of Meeting Professionals International, speaking at a press conference Feb.17. “Now we have that benchmark data, and we can demonstrate once and for all the significant economic impact that meetings have on the economy.”
The ripple effect of meetings is widespread: Another 4.6 million U.S. workers have jobs supported by meetings, including industry suppliers and those who rely on meeting output for sales and revenue. In total, direct, indirect and induced contributions from meeting activity add up to $907 billion in economic output to the U.S. economy including a $458 billion value‐added contribution to GDP, 6.3 million full‐time and part‐time jobs, $271 billion in labor income including wages and salaries, benefits and proprietors’ income, $64 billion in federal tax revenue and $46 billion in state and local tax revenue.
“Meetings are how business gets done in virtually every state, city and town in America,” said CIC’s Karen Kotowski. “They are the very definition of working together and are essential to help win our future.”
The study also found the meetings industry generates more jobs than many U.S. industries, including broadcasting and communications (1.3 million), truck and rail transportation industries (1.5 million), and computer and electronic product manufacturing (1.1 million).
Of the 1.8 million meetings studied, 1.3 million are classified as corporate or business meetings, 270,000 are conventions, conferences or congresses, 11,000 are trade shows and 66,000 are incentive meetings. The vast majority of meetings (85 percent) were conducted at venues with lodging. Meetings generated 250 million overnight stays by 117 million Americans and 5 million international attendees.
PricewaterhouseCoopers conducted the study, funded by an alliance of 14 membership organizations representing the collective meetings, travel, exhibitions and events industries in the U.S. brought together by the Convention Industry Council. Besides MPI’s MacMillan, CEOs from six of the other supporting organizations attended the press conference, including Roger Dow, U.S. Travel Association; John Graham, ASAE; Michael Gehrisch, Destination Marketing Association International; Karen Kotowski, CIC; Joe McInerney, American Hotel and Lodging Association; and Deborah Sexton, Professional Convention Management Association; as well as Robert Canton, director, convention and tourism practice at PwC US. Details on the study can be found at MeetingsMeanBusiness.com.
“After a time in which our industry was significantly misunderstood and vilified to a certain extent, we needed common data to demonstrate the contribution this industry makes to jobs, the economy, and taxes,” said Bruce MacMillan, president and chief executive officer of Meeting Professionals International, speaking at a press conference Feb.17. “Now we have that benchmark data, and we can demonstrate once and for all the significant economic impact that meetings have on the economy.”
The ripple effect of meetings is widespread: Another 4.6 million U.S. workers have jobs supported by meetings, including industry suppliers and those who rely on meeting output for sales and revenue. In total, direct, indirect and induced contributions from meeting activity add up to $907 billion in economic output to the U.S. economy including a $458 billion value‐added contribution to GDP, 6.3 million full‐time and part‐time jobs, $271 billion in labor income including wages and salaries, benefits and proprietors’ income, $64 billion in federal tax revenue and $46 billion in state and local tax revenue.
“Meetings are how business gets done in virtually every state, city and town in America,” said CIC’s Karen Kotowski. “They are the very definition of working together and are essential to help win our future.”
The study also found the meetings industry generates more jobs than many U.S. industries, including broadcasting and communications (1.3 million), truck and rail transportation industries (1.5 million), and computer and electronic product manufacturing (1.1 million).
Of the 1.8 million meetings studied, 1.3 million are classified as corporate or business meetings, 270,000 are conventions, conferences or congresses, 11,000 are trade shows and 66,000 are incentive meetings. The vast majority of meetings (85 percent) were conducted at venues with lodging. Meetings generated 250 million overnight stays by 117 million Americans and 5 million international attendees.
PricewaterhouseCoopers conducted the study, funded by an alliance of 14 membership organizations representing the collective meetings, travel, exhibitions and events industries in the U.S. brought together by the Convention Industry Council. Besides MPI’s MacMillan, CEOs from six of the other supporting organizations attended the press conference, including Roger Dow, U.S. Travel Association; John Graham, ASAE; Michael Gehrisch, Destination Marketing Association International; Karen Kotowski, CIC; Joe McInerney, American Hotel and Lodging Association; and Deborah Sexton, Professional Convention Management Association; as well as Robert Canton, director, convention and tourism practice at PwC US. Details on the study can be found at MeetingsMeanBusiness.com.
Scary to think about all those numbers... hopefully this economy will start to pick back up come 2013!
ReplyDelete-Jackie @ Site selection