BY FAR, LOGISTICS IS THE MOST important factor for corporate planners when they choose a destination and a convention center. That's the conclusion of the recently released Metropoll X biannual survey of meeting planners, which was conducted by Gerard Murphy & Associates, Petaluma, Calif.

For the study, GMA surveyed approximately 1,200 meeting planners — about 60 percent association and 40 percent corporate — about their large (2,000 attendees or more) meetings. Among the corporate planners surveyed, 83 percent said convenient airline service was the most important factor in selecting a site, followed by availability of hotel rooms, good hotel rooms, and ease of getting to (79 percent); food and lodging costs (74 percent); and travel costs (73 percent).

Farther down the list came factors that have more of an effect on the attendee experience, such as climate (37 percent) and good restaurants (35 percent).

The biggest deterrent for corporate planners was unsanitary conditions at a site (94 percent). High crime rate (87 percent) and “nothing to do there” (75 percent) were the next most common detractors. And for the first time, fear of terrorism and SARS emerged as obstacles to selection of a destination: 73 percent of corporate planners said a city that was a likely terrorist target was a deterrent, while 59 percent cited recent SARS publicity as a negative.

The Best Centers

The study also looked at factors that influence convention center choices, finding that the most important criteria for all planners — corporate and association — are adequate breakout rooms (74 percent); adequate seating at large sessions (73 percent); competent management (72 percent); and helpful staff and facility rental rates (67 percent).

The most popular convention centers got high marks for having both top-notch facilities and staff. Quite often, convention centers are strong in one area or the other, but not both, says GMA president Gerard Murphy. The Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu was voted the top convention center.

Planners also chose the cities with the best hotel meeting facilities: Las Vegas; Orlando, Fla.; Chicago; New Orleans; San Francisco; Atlanta; San Diego; New York; Washington, D.C.; and San Antonio.

The Metropoll X research showed that different sectors within the corporate market have different priorities. One hundred percent of financial companies cited good hotels as a major decision-making factor (compared to just 65 percent of corporate respondents), while good restaurants were paramount for 60 percent of financial planners (compared to 40 percent of corporate respondents).

Influence in site selection was spread fairly evenly among top management (68 percent); individual meeting planners (64 percent); and meeting management (62 percent). “This really shows the multiplicity of parties involved in site selection,” says Murphy.

For more information on the Metropoll X research, send an e-mail to Murphy at gmastudy@pacbell.net.