Meeting Planners Anticipate Rough Year in 2020
Photo Credit: Attendees at Forest Communicators Network for the Mediterranean and Near East conference. Flickr / Forest Communicators Network
Skift Take
Tight budgets, competition, needy clients, last-minute requests, and unresponsive venues rise to the top of the list of challenges planners need to tackle in 2019. They anticipate tougher times next year.
For most North American meeting planners, 2019 has been a good year thanks to solid economic growth and increased demand for events. Uncertainty, however, may rule in 2020 with the U.S. election and corporations pulling the reins on meeting and event spending.
Experienced planners take these challenges in stride, but that doesn’t make it any easier dealing with demanding clients as booking windows shorten and the price of meeting spaces rise.
One challenge remains constant no matter what year it is, according to one planner: hearing back from venues that are likely slammed with potential customers.
“The biggest challenge that planners are facing is the lack of response from certain properties,” said JoAnn Gregoli, owner of Elegant Occasions by JoAnn Gregoli, a New York-based corporate events and destination wedding master planner. “Time is a factor when making a decisi
