From left: Steve O’Malley COO, Maritz; Dan Surette, Chief Sales Officer, Omni Hotels & Resorts; Michelle Mason, ASAE President and CEO, FASAE, CAE; Frank Passanante, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Sales, Hilton.

As year’s end approaches, the meeting industry celebrates a year of incredible growth, while it casts its gaze on 2024, and its optimistic take on the future. With that in mind, we have asked a few meeting professionals to share insights on the evolving landscape of meetings and events, with a focus on the latest trends, technology and evolutions.

Some industry trends include cultural curiosity and event technology. Top concerns range from shifting demographics, travel bans, political influences, labor shortages, rising costs, to the evolution of AI and its disruptive or powerful potential, brands’ business models and the growing movement around inclusivity, safety and sustainability.

As meetings and events professionals created a picture of what the industry will look like in 2024, we gathered some of their questions:

What one event technology trend will have a big impact on business events?

Corporations like Maritz Holdings, one of the largest event companies, consolidated all of its brands into a singular entity for the first time in nearly 130 years — all while forging ahead with new technology and an expanded workforce. So, will brand simplicity be the new business model?

AI adoption is inevitable as the topic of AI continues to sweep over the events industry.  This emerging technology is top-of-mind for company directors and owners, but will companies move forward by embracing it fully — and if yes, will it ultimately have a positive impact?

Event designers are recognizing that audiences are getting younger and reimagining their approach to creating engaging and immersive experiences. Generational Shift Drives Innovation in Event Design Data from the U.S. Department of Labor suggests that the average age of attendees has dropped to 45 from the pre-pandemic average of 51. Why the shift? Also, over half of white-collar workers in North America over age 55 are now claiming retirement. How can event designers cater to the sensibilities and values of the younger generation and help boost engagement?

Sustainability progress requires big-picture thinking. As the event industry is responsible for roughly 10% of all C02 emissions produced annually, what should leaders from all sectors of the industry do to build a strategy for a more sustainable future?

Here’s what these industry experts had to say on some of the subjects outlined above.

Steve O’Malley

COO, Maritz 

We are seeing a great deal of positivity in the events industry as we move into 2024, with a few key trends:

Accelerated Movement in Innovation and Technology

AI has exploded and will continue to be a huge game-changer in 2024. It provides so many opportunities for the industry, from both efficiency and creative standpoints. We believe the uses of AI reach far past our industry and will impact clients, guests, suppliers and exhibitors in numerous ways, and how quickly we adapt to this technology will be crucial.

Rethinking Event Design

We’ve entered an era of customized experiences and purpose, with attendees wanting to be more immersed in individualized content and learning. Pre-pandemic, we spent so much time designing meetings as we always had. Event design was only about content, agendas and execution, but once we went through the pandemic, it was about getting people back face-to-face. The next phase is about personalization and providing customized experiences for attendees to take back and apply to their individual growth and careers.

Climate Change

This is only going to get more important. Sustainability practices used to be “nice to have,” but now we are seeing more regulations coming in, and if we don’t change the way in which we supply and support the planning of meetings in a more sustainable manner, we could see some real challenges facing our industry in the future.

Using Data Efficiently

The challenge is how to best use data to make better decisions around all aspects of events.  Measuring the impact is important, because we’re seeing attendees and exhibitors wanting to see return on their investment AND return on experience.

Generational Shifts

One of the biggest considerations moving forward is inclusivity — the understanding of multiple generations attending and how they each have a different way of engaging and consuming content. We know Gen Z does not want to consume content in the same way as other generations, so we must consider this shift and meet expectations.

In summary, I believe it will be a constant influx of innovation and technology, but we can’t forget the most important common element — human beings. Helping people unleash their potential and being open to taking a few risks with technology and event design is of the utmost importance.

Dan Surette

Chief Sales Officer, Omni Hotels & Resorts

The year 2023 was a “normalizing” period for travel in a lot of ways. In the two previous years, as companies were coming out of COVID, the industry saw a significant rebound in group and leisure as there was a pent-up need for meetings and events for revenge travel. This year, we saw leisure demand stabilize and shift from domestic to more international destinations and cruises.

At Omni Hotels & Resorts, the corporate meetings segment remained strong, and new association meetings are now being booked further out. The association planner has a better handle on attendance after a year or two of “new” history. Business travel is not yet back to 2019 levels but continues to gain momentum. The economic uncertainty and more international unrest are playing into sourcing, buying and travel decisions through the second half of this year.

As we look ahead to 2024, our outlook is that group will continue to be a bright spot in the year and beyond. We are finding that planners are looking for less traditional meeting layouts and want to gather in more uniquely designed spaces that can be better customized for the groups’ needs. This really aligns with what Omni has to offer across our portfolio and it is our goal when designing new meeting and event spaces.

Our feeling on business travel is that the small and medium-sized accounts will continue to trend up, while the larger accounts will gain strength through the year as the economic factors improve. The leisure travel space will be very competitive with travelers looking for unique and personalized experiences. Omni is very well positioned to grow here as we have been making sizeable investments in service and programming throughout this year.

Leveraging new and existing digital and technology platforms is a must with B2C and B2B strategies, which Omni takes into consideration when investing in AV, booking tools, etc. Social media continues to evolve, and AI is the new hot topic which will no doubt have an impact on our industry, from new content that will be created to how people search and are influenced when considering meetings and events travel.

While it may have a slower start, we believe 2024 will pick up steam throughout the year with strong group performance, improving leisure and steady business travel.

Michelle Mason

ASAE President and CEO, FASAE, CAE 

ASAE is very optimistic about the health of association meetings in 2024. While virtual and hybrid meetings have become a permanent channel for content delivery, there continues to be high demand for in-person meetings that are experience-based and deliver on attendees’ expectations for connection and collaboration.

Rapidly advancing meeting technology is helping associations personalize the experience for meeting attendees and boost engagement. AI, in particular, has limitless potential for associations seeking to enhance their meeting attendees’ experience.

Ethical and responsible use of AI will continue to be a focal point for association meeting planners moving forward. Associations are also increasingly turning to data and analytics to measure the success of their meetings and identify trends in attendee behavior that can help them plan their next successful meeting.

One highly positive trend we expect to continue in 2024 is the prioritization of diversity, equity and inclusion in association event planning. More organizations are actively striving to ensure that all attendees at their meetings feel like there’s been thought given to their experience and they can make the connections they need and engage with the content that is most relevant to them.

Frank Passanante

Senior Vice President and Global Head of Sales, Hilton

Hilton’s recent trends report spotlighted that, in 2024, travelers will be looking for innovative and seamless digital solutions to simplify their overall travel experience and personalize their stays — regardless of their travel purpose. This expectation begins with the booking process and continues through the guest’s entire hotel stay.

To create a more seamless travel experience for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), which is roughly 85% of Hilton’s business transient guests, in January, we’ll be launching Hilton for Business, a new multi-faceted program, currently in test with select customers. The program will feature a new booking website, along with targeted benefits.

At Hilton, we are embracing the fact that we have entered a new golden age of travel where innovations are accelerating rapidly alongside customer demand. The digitization of travel is propelling industry innovations forward, impacting the inspiration and booking experience for travelers and further removing the tension points of travel. Companies, like us, will continue to explore ways that big data and AI can enable team members to meet the specific needs of customers. This includes how to improve the customer experience through increased booking options, messaging platforms to provide guests with what they need quickly and more. C&IT