Ethical operations and sustainable practices will be among the most important areas of focus for venues by 2024 according to the 2019 edition of IACC’s annual Meeting Room of the Future Report.

The report was released at MPI’s World Education Congress, which was held June 15-18 in Toronto, Canada. It brings together insights from more than 250 meeting planners from five continents to gain insights from global venue operators, industry experts and suppliers, with the goal of understanding how they are responding to the changing expectations and needs of meeting planners as identified in IACC’s 2019 survey of buyers.

Key findings in the report include:

• 44% of respondents believe that ethical operations and sustainable practices will be two of the most important elements for venues by 2024;
• 62% of respondents said they will look at how a venue manages its food waste before booking;
• 27% said that cybersecurity will become a greater priority in the next three to five years;
• 76% of meeting planners reporting that they are concerned about cybersecurity when implementing new technologies into their events;
• 77% increase (8% in 2017 to 85% in 2019) in the number of meetings integrating new technology, such as audience participant apps, projection mapping and screen-sharing;
• 75% increase (10% in 2017 to 85% in 2019) in the number of meeting planners responsible for creating memorable meeting experiences—the rise in demand for experience-led meetings being attributed to an influx of new generations attending events and planning them;
• and dietary requirements remain the number one f&b priority with 88% expressing full confidence that their venues of choice will accommodate special requests in advance of a meeting or event (some planners said the believe venues can do more to ensure that serving staff are briefed on ingredients and potential allergens, labelling all ingredients for buffets and creating more exciting dishes for those who have dietary requirements).

“IACC is dedicated to setting the agenda for the meetings and events industry when it comes to giving venue operators insights and understanding into how they need to continue to adapt to deliver an outstanding experience for event planners,” said Mark Cooper, CEO, IACC. “This year’s report reveals some interesting new trends and shows that trends that have emerged in recent years are continuing to grow. We are seeing more critical analysis of venues and practices before booking events and, especially, a real focus o sustainability and ethical operations. These are areas we expect to continue to develop over the coming years. I am interested to see how venues and companies address the concerns of meeting planners over the next year and what changes we will see in the 2020 report.”