July Meetings Volume Recovers to 81.4% of 2019 Level

U.S. meetings volume in July recovered to 81.4 percent of the prepandemic 2019 benchmark, pacing ahead of last month's 80.1 percent recovery, according to meetings and events data provider Knowland. That's despite a 15.5 percent decline in volume from June to July — a seasonal dip that is less than the drop typically seen prepandemic, according to Knowland. Meetings business continues to outperform 2021 volume significantly, with July numbers up 163.9 percent year-over-year.

"July is always the low point of the summer months," said Knowland chief product officer Kristi White, "with corporate meetings taking a minor step back while SMERF business surges forward." That pattern continued this year, though in some ways performance exceeded 2019 levels. The average number of attendees, for instance, was 121 in July, nearly double last year's 64-attendee average and significantly higher than the 91 reported in 2019.

Planners also packed more attendees into less space compared with years' past, averaging 26 square feet per person in July, compared with 38 square feet a year ago and 31 square feet per person in 2019.

Once again it was the corporate meetings segment that led the way, even with the drop in corporate business that occurs in July. Nearly six in 10 meetings (58.1 percent) were corporate, with technology, training/education and health-care sectors being the best represented. The online retailer, urban infrastructure, sports entertainment/media, engineering and construction segments were those that came closest to their 2019 levels of activity.

The destinations that experienced the most month-over-month growth in July were, in order, Sarasota, Fla.; Norfolk, Va.; Buffalo, N.Y.; Kauai, Hawaii; and Raleigh-Durham, N.C.

To compile these reports, Knowland analyzes data collected and aggregated from both customer and noncustomer venues, field reporting and its historical database.