Knowland, a data-as-a-service provider for the hospitality industry, has some of the answers. Its meeting-volume report for September was released October 5, and it shows growth for the events industry is strong.
Knowland’s research found that September’s event volume increased 21.7 percent compared with September 2022. Its report on August event volume revealed a similar jump (21 percent).
Some markets saw even larger year-over-year percentage gains for early fall. Nashville was the leader, growing events 30.7 percent in September, with Los Angeles/Long Beach coming in at 22.3 percent over 2022. Oahu, Hawaii; Las Vegas; and Denver rounded out the top-five markets by event volume growth percent.
Interestingly, Knowland also captures the top industries bringing meetings and events to each of the five markets. Not surprisingly, national associations led as a key driver for all:
Nashville: healthcare, technology, national association, financial/banking, and manufacturing
Los Angeles/Long Beach: education, charity/non-profit, healthcare, national association, and training/education
Oahu: wedding, travel, national association, education, and military
Las Vegas: national association, technology, training/education, wedding, and charity/non-profit
Denver: national association, healthcare, education, technology, and financial/banking
Three of September’s top-five cities were also called out in Knowland’s August report, where Las Vegas led in terms of year-over-year event gains, followed by Nashville, Los Angeles/Long Beach, Seattle, and Chicago.
