New Zealand is the favourite for international destinations, followed by the UK, Fiji, Singapore and Indonesia.
Meanwhile, on the domestic front, Sydney has overtaken Melbourne again, with Adelaide and Perth surging past Australia’s third largest city, Brisbane, to claim third and fourth spots respectively.
“Interestingly, our data shows that the traditional domestic ‘Golden Triangle’ of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane has shifted when it comes to meetings, events, and conferences in 2023 – with Adelaide and Perth flying in ahead of the Sunshine State’s capital,” said FCM Meetings & Events general manager, Simone Seiler.
“The first five months of 2023 has already given us an idea of how businesses have changed in terms of meetings, events, and conferences.
“The most desired destinations have shifted back to previous favourites such as New Zealand, Asia, and the United Kingdom.
“It’s fair to say that the ability for businesses, employees, customers, and prospects to come together was taken for granted pre-pandemic – the passion and engagement I’ve seen since restrictions have been lifted has been very encouraging.
“It’s also telling that rather than cancel meetings and events, corporates looked to alternative destinations and venues last year that went against the norm – it really shows that after being apart for so long, people were desperate to get back to networking in person.”
Although planners indicated to micenet that budgets were a significant issue coming to 2023, Seiler says FCM are not seeing these concerns amongst their clients now.
“With budgets ready and no concerns about interruptions or cancellations, corporates are booking events throughout 2023 and 2024. Significantly more events are being planned for than in 2019, with the true value of in-person interaction coming back into focus by force.”