Eventia‘s 2012 UK Events Market Trends Survey (UKEMTS) has revealed that the industry is feeling optimistic with almost 90 per cent of venue managers saying they expected business in 2012 to be better than in 2011. A total of 20 per cent are  planning capital investment projects this year worth upwards of £100k per venue.

Corporate business has played a significant role in this upswing, with events in that sector accounting for 57 per cent of all events last year, up from 51 per cent in 2010 and 47 per cent in 2009. The share of Association event business remained at 21 per cent but public sector events fell to 23 per cent in 2011 from 28 per cent in 2010 and 37 per cent in 2009.

Rob Allen, Eventia chair, commented: “UKEMTS is a crucial barometer of what’s happening. We shall be using the trends and other market intelligence revealed in this survey for education, marketing and advocacy purposes.”

More than 90 per cent of planners surveyed said that price and value for money remained their most important considerations, but other key factors included shorter lead times (76 per cent), increased competition from cheaper venues and in-house facilities (69 per cent) and lower catering spend or events being organised to avoid meal times (56 per cent).

According to UKEMTS, which surveyed 302 UK venues, in 2011 there were 103m delegate attendances and 1.3m events with an average attendance of 80 people, slightly higher than the average of 76 delegates in 2010. Venues stayed consistent in the number of events they held, each hosting an average of 369 events in 2011, compared with 371 in 2010. Hotels accounted for 61 per cent of this business.

Pictured: Rob Allen, Eventia