BRAINTRUST, a leading consulting and professional services firm in the tourism sector, has released a new report on the meetings industry, in which it has worked for the Spain Convention Bureau for another year, analyzing the evolution of the meetings industry in 2023 and estimating forecasts for 2024 and 2025.
The meetings industry will reach €13.367 billion in 2023, growing by 8.55% compared to 2019 and 28% compared to the previous year.
According to data from the Spain Convention Bureau, compiled by BRAINTRUST, the network of local entities that currently brings together 63 meeting destinations within the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP), Spain closed with a turnover of €13.367 billion, representing growth of 8.55% compared to 2019 and 28.1% over the previous year. These figures had already been predicted by the sector, which had been confirming strong demand. This, combined with high prices driven by inflation, has resulted in a new record figure for Spain.
All expectations have been exceeded, as meetings have taken on greater purpose and meaning for organizers and attendees, returning strongly to face-to-face events without neglecting their environmental footprint, and in most cases incorporating a positive impact on destinations, with sustainability in the broadest sense of the word as the cornerstone of all their activities.
In terms of passenger numbers, the data shows 10.36 million in 2023, representing a 29.8% increase on last year and 1.5% more than in 2019, with expected growth in 2024 of 3.6%, reaching 10.73 million, and a further 4% in 2025, reaching 11.16 million.
For Ángel García Butragueño, Director of Tourism at BRAINTRUST: "The impact of the meetings industry is not only economic, promoting decent and continuous employability, promoting equality and inclusivity, and breaking the seasonal precariousness that we have traditionally known in tourism in our country. However, we do have some challenges to address, such as incorporating sustainability and legacy, digitizing the entire ecosystem, and revitalizing talent, which is becoming increasingly scarce in the world of tourism. However, there are also new opportunities on the horizon that we must know how to maximize, such as the aforementioned sustained growth, the optimization of the increasingly internationally recognized Spain brand, and the professionalization of individuals and companies, whose role is fundamental in continuing to make this robust industry a benchmark for our country. In this regard, the role of the Spain Convention Bureau is critical, given its role as an integrator of the offerings of its associated destinations and its specialization in promotion and communication, combining efforts and optimizing synergies among all Convention Bureaus and their local partners, a task it performs with great success.
Average spending rises to €351.9, three times higher than the average spending of leisure tourists.
The average daily expenditure per traveler will rise to €351.9 in 2023, which, although amplified by the effect of inflation, already far exceeds the expenditure in 2019, when it stood at €319.2. This average expenditure, which is three times higher than the average daily expenditure of leisure tourists, should convey the urgent need to convey to political bodies and public and private organizations the contribution that meetings make to the economy of destinations, compared to other types of travelers such as vacationers.
According to José Manuel Brell, Partner in charge of Quantitative Studies and Models, and the Tourism and Leisure Industry at BRAINTRUST: "The meetings industry continues to grow, breaking all records and making it an economic bulwark of tourism as a whole. Spain will continue to grow even above the global average, taking advantage of economic growth ahead of the closest advanced countries, which remain the fundamental target of our promotion and communication policies through the very important role played by the Spain Convention Bureau, a section specializing in MICE tourism belonging to the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces, which promotes the exchange of experiences and information in this tourism sector among the 63 associated municipalities. Our country must continue to be a leader in this segment of business travel, and it is up to us to work tirelessly to realize our full potential.
