Launch of the new edition of award-winning HBI Meetings Industry Report

The annual Meetings Industry Report has just been published by the HBI, and includes such industry gems of industry knowledge as: 67% of UK office workers attend at least one off-site meeting each week; just 20% of the UK’s meeting venues are bookable online; and, despite a fall in the number of corporate meetings and conferences, over 35,000 new "meeting rooms":http://www.venues.org.uk/searches/meeting_rooms_venues.asp will open across the UK during 2008 and 2009.

The 200-page publication contains a wealth of benchmarking data and best practice for procurement and event managers. Each of the 16 chapters in the report covers a major meetings procurement issue: including new or refurbished "venues":http://www.venues.org.uk opening this year; sustainability, calculating return on investment from meetings; and a look at what the buyer of the future will demand from venue operators.

“Despite being worth £22 billion to the UK economy, the meetings industry has historically lagged behind air travel and hospitality (hotels) in terms of the market intelligence available to buyers and planners. There is actually a lot of information out there, and our report combines this data with the experiences of both corporate buyers and venue operators, bringing it all together in one place,” said HBI managing director Des Mclaughlin.

Among the new features in this second edition is an Industry Benchmark section covering venue usage and corporate processes in the UK, Europe and globally. A best practice section includes advice for the procurement executive new to meetings and a global calendar of events specially compiled.

Last year’s edition of the report won gold at the Meetings Industry Marketing Awards.

(Related categories of interest see "Business Meeting Venues":http://www.venues.org.uk/searches/business_meeting_venues.asp, "Conference Venues":http://www.venues.org.uk/searches/conference_venues.asp also "Meeting Rooms":http://www.venues.org.uk/searches/meeting_rooms_venues.asp)

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