September Meetings Volume Recovers to Nearly 90% of 2019 Levels

Monthly meetings volume in the United States for September reached nearly 90 percent of prepandemic levels, a significant sign that the industry is almost at full recovery. According to meetings and events data provider Knowland, last month's activity grew 135.4 percent over September 2021 and 23.7 percent over August 2022. 

"This is the highest level of recovery we have seen, and each month we get closer to full recovery," said Kristi White, Knowland's chief product officer. "As we step into the fourth quarter, meetings and events are poised to have a dramatic rebound that will bring the quarter close to full recovery."

Also of note in the report, average September attendance increased from 97 people in 2019 and 112 in 2021 to 118 this year. The average meeting space used last month — 3,101 square feet — was significantly larger than years prior — 2,791 square feet in 2021 and 2,729 square feet in 2019. But since attendance grew, per-person space decreased to 26 square feet compared with 28 square feet before Covid-19. 

Corporate meetings were the dominant segment, representing 53.1 percent of meetings held, with the health-care, technology and financial/banking sectors hosting the most events. This number is a dip from the previous month, where corporate events accounted for 63.5 percent of the meetings business. The online retail, sports entertainment, agriculture, arts/performing arts and automotive segments have recovered the most from 2019 levels. 

The destinations that saw the most growth month-over-month were Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego and Washington, D.C. 

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