Event intelligence company Knowland has been releasing monthly data reports on US meeting volumes since the end of 2020 to track the industry’s recovery. 2022 saw promising growth month over month, and Knowland’s data showed that November 2022 was the first month since the pandemic in which meeting volume exceeded 2019 levels, which was an important and exciting milestone.
Specifically, November hit 103.1 percent of 2019 event volume, and represented a 122.5 percent increase over November 2021. The positive trajectory continued in December, with meeting volumes reaching 103.1 percent of 2019 levels once again.
December saw a 16.4 percent decline compared to November, which is in line with annual seasonality trends, but experienced an impressive 141.5 year-over-year increase, further solidifying the industry’s recovery. The average number of attendees per event also increased in December 2022 at 111, compared to 99 in December 2021 and 82 in December 2019.
Knowland identified the top five growth markets in December 2022, compared with the previous month, as Sacramento, CA; Colorado Springs, CO; Chattanooga, TN; Grand Rapids, MI; and Jacksonville, FL. There was no significant change in the average space used per person at events.
Based on two straight months of data exceeding pre-pandemic levels, Knowland has now officially closed its monthly recovery data reporting, with Kristi White, Knowland’s chief product officer, noting that the recovery period is behind us.
“For the second month in a row, the U.S. exceeded 2019 volumes. The world and our industry are irrevocably changed, but we can’t look back any longer,” she said. “It’s time that we stopped talking about recovery and started looking forward to understand better how we can capitalize on the future.”
Knowland will now focus its reporting on analytics that help the hospitality industry accelerate growth moving forward.