The research for the 2024 International Planner Sentiment Report surveyed event planners working in corporate, association, incentive and agency environments from the UK, Europe and North America, asking them to rate the importance of certain factors in the decision-making process for events. On a one-to-10 scale, one represents the lowest importance while 10 represents the highest.
Planners from the UK and North America gave just one collective 10 each to a single aspect of event decision-making – in the UK, cost and value for money was the single most important factor, while in North America, safety and security came out on top.
Safety and security also climbed up the scale of importance in Europe and the UK, rising in both geographies by a point, while cost and value for money rose by one point across the board.
Destination brand has also become more important across all regions surveyed – rising by one point in North America and the UK and by two in Europe. The importance of equity and diversity was also up by one point across all jurisdictions.
Meanwhile the importance of sustainability – with social impact tacked on this year – fell, by two points in the UK and one point in Europe. Its importance remained stable in North America, where it’s rated as the second lowest in relative importance of all 10 factors, just above cultural identity and at the same level as food and hospitality and equity and diversity.
“Once again, the report has shone a strong light on those factors that are influencing destination choice,” said TBOE’s director of news and content, Martin Fullard.
“While cost, brand and diversity have all increased in importance, it is becoming clear that sustainability, while still an extremely important topic, is becoming much more of an expected requirement rather than something which is seen as value added.”
The survey that underpins the sentiment report was conducted over three weeks in late April and early May this year.
