Courtesy of DVIP Inc., a destination management company based in Utah and Wyoming
There is a lot of helpful information in the Convention Industry Council’s new report Economic Significance of Meetings to the US Economy, which confirms significant increases in meeting participants, tax contribution and job growth from 2009 to 2012. I’d love to see numbers broken down by region and especially for Mountain West states, but the overall numbers are encouraging.
For me, the following chart provided by CIC was the best way to catch a quick glimpse at the results.
ESS DIRECT IMPACTS | |||
 | 2009 | 2012 | % increase |
Meeting Participants (millions) | 204.72 | 224.94 | 10.00% |
Direct Spending (billions) | 263.44 | 280.40 | 6.44% |
Meetings Contribution to GDP (billions) | 106.09 | 115.61 | 8.97% |
Federal, State & Local Taxes (billions) | 25.61 | 28.06 | 9.59% |
Participant Spending (billions) | 144.76 | 164.15 | 11.81% |
Employment (millions) | 1.65 | 1.78 | 8.30% |
I found it interesting that during these years of economic fluctuation, meetings-related jobs increased by 8.3% instead of decreasing. Corporations hosted the majority of the 225 million meeting attendees in 2012 at 49% followed by association/membership organizations at 26%, non-government/not-for-profit organizations at 23% and government at only 2%. To be considered a meeting, it had to be at least four hours in length, have a minimum of 10 participants and be held at a contracted venue.
We’d like to hear from planners, suppliers, hotels, venues and attractions regarding if those stats reflect what happened in the Mountain West (mountain towns in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, California and Nevada) during the same time period. Post your comments on our Facebook page to get the conversation going. Â
Sky Blue, the rooftop bar at The Sky Lodge in Park City
