Holy Cow! The value of face-to-face meetings is estimated to be more than $1.03 trillion US bucks! That’s the amount cited for the worldwide direct spending of the meeting and event industry in 2017 according to the Global Economic Significance of Business Events. The average amount spent per business event participant was $711, according to the report. Now that’s a lot of moolah for a meeting!
If we just take the US (rather than the entire world), the value is $1,156 per person with a grand total of $381 billion spent in North America across 329.7 million participants.
Here’s what’s really interesting….The study examined “meetings from more than 15 countries that included 10 or more people who spent a minimum of four hours in a contracted venue. The countries represented a diverse group of regions, domestic and international travelers and national GDPs.”
So…this means that this gigantic number doesn’t even include the daily meetings we have inside our organizations. It’s gotta be a huge, ginormous contribution!
Check out how much YOUR meetings are costing you here. It all adds up!
KRISTIN ARNOLD, MBA, CPF, CSP is a high-stakes meeting facilitator and professional panel moderator. She’s been facilitating teams of executives and managers in making better decisions and achieving greater results for over 20 years. She is the author of the award-winning book, Boring to Bravo: Proven Presentation Techniques to Engage, Involve and Inspire Audiences to Action.
Recent Articles:
4 Tell-tale Signs You are a Controlling Leader
Leaders: Do You Need Strategic Planning or Do You Have Clear Vision?
Stretch your Leadership Team’s Ability to Think Strategically