Ever wondered the real size of the corporate & association sectors of the events industry and the impact on the economy? At last the first-ever Economic Impact Study (UKEIS) for the UK events industry has been released. The South African eventing industry proves significant percentage similarities.
The study showed that in 2011 – 1,3 million meetings took place with total attendee spend worth just under 40billionBPS. The initial profile results which were announced at International Confex on the 20th March also found that 2011 UK events attracted 116.1 million delegates, with meetings taking place across a staggering 10,127 venues around the country. With approximately 3500 MICE venues in South Africa – with and without accommodation – one can conservatively extrapolate the number of meetings which delegates attended in South Africa together with the potential estimated economic impact.
From the number of delegates – the study showed that 78.5% were from within the country while 21.5% were international delegates. The ratio between national and international delegates are likely to be much higher in the UK. With a long-haul destination such as South Africa, the percentage for our nation are more realistic at 95% national to 5% international.
Other key findings include:
*Size of Meeting: 64% were classed as small with fewer than 100 attendees. 30% were between 100-500 attendees and 6% attracted more than 500 attendees.
*Largest MICE Expense: 38% delegates registration fees. 31% Exhibition fees. Sponsorship 19.5%
*Largest attendee spend: 20.6% accommodation. 18.7% registration fees. 10.3% air transport
*Largest expense for meeting organizers: 17.% venue hire
*Venue Choice: 27.7% Large hotels (50 or more rooms) with meeting facilities 20% were classed as unusual, unique or special event venue. 14.2% were purpose-built convention or exhibition centres.
*Average Length: Over 50% were single day or less
*Greatest Host City: By far the greatest host city in the UK was London. Similarly for South Africa and Johannesburg respectively.
James Samuel the International Confex event director concluded ‘As the figures are further broken down – we will gain a true insight into not just the size of our sector but also its impact and position in the world around us’.
The results of this extensive UK study are close to the South African estimates provided by the MICE Academy at the March Focus Group which were around 85% corporate, 15% association & 10% public sector. The study was led by the MPI Foundation with a consortium of investment partners. The research has been undertaken by the International Centre for Research in Events, Tourism & Hospitality (ICRETH) at Leeds Metropolitan University.
