Michael Begley, managing director of venuedirectory.com
“Small meetings accounted for 82 per cent of bookings going through the venuedirectory.com in the last 12 months, a year when volumes have exceeded 2019 levels,” reports Michael Begley, managing director of venuedirectory.com.
“Contrary to some expectations, the number of small meetings has returned to pre-pandemic levels despite the growth of online meetings in 2020 and 2021. It’s further proof that people still want to meet in person.”
This finding comes at a time when, with many venues operating with lower numbers of staff, some are struggling to handle incoming enquiries. Recent venuedirectory.com analysis showed that in 2019 76% of RFPs were answered within 2 hours compared to 58% in 2022.
Michael Begley adds “The continuing volume of small or simple meetings, combined with the ongoing difficulty of responding to booking enquiries further highlights the potential benefits to both venues and event bookers of online booking – Instant Book.
“From our discussions we know that many hundreds of hotels and venues, both within major groups and independents, are getting ready to make their meeting room inventory available for online booking next year. The snowball is starting to roll.”
