Meeting and event industry professionals will come together for the annual Global Meetings Industry Day on April 3, tasked with raising awareness about the importance and economic impact of business meetings, trade shows, incentive travel, exhibitions, conferences and conventions, all driven by the power of face-to-face interactions.
Industry leaders and advocates are urging meeting professionals to deliver the message on GMID to elected leaders and mainstream media that meetings matter to people and businesses, while packing a much-needed economic punch to communities.
“Face-to-face meetings and events enable people to build stronger relationships and deepen human connections that drive business results for their organizations,” said Kevin Hinton, U.S. Travel Managing Director of Group Travel. “Global Meetings Industry Day is a critical reminder of how this industry fuels local economies, strengthens businesses and supports communities worldwide."
Last year, there was more than $126 billion in meeting and event related travel spending in the U.S., directly supporting nearly 620,000 jobs in this country, according to the U.S. Travel Association, the national, non-profit organization representing all components of the U.S. travel industry.
The 2023 Global Economic Significance of Business Events study, in partnership with the Events Industry Council and Oxford Economics, built a comprehensive study to evaluate the full scope and economic significance of the $1.6 trillion global business events industry. Top findings showed business events supported 10.9 million direct jobs globally and generated $662.6 billion of direct GDP. On average, $707 was spent per business event participant and the top 50 countries accounted for $1.11 trillion of business events direct spending, representing 96.5% of the global total.
In 2023, the travel industry directly employed 8 million Americans and supported nearly 15 million jobs. The travel industry represents 2.5% of the U.S. national GDP, and accounted for $1.3 trillion in direct spending in 2023, which produced an economic footprint of $2.8 trillion.
The economic impact is a key message that legislators, community leaders and mainstream media need to hear and understand, said ALHI President and CEO Michael Dominguez.
GMID is “not only important for us to celebrate the fact that we have the power of bringing people together face to face, but it's also an opportunity for us to remember in our communities that it's important for us to educate and bring together the world of academia, our local officials and government officials,” he said. “And on a federal level as well. It is a really dynamic universe, and we are all connected in this ecosystem. It's important that we bring that awareness of how important it is when we bring people together to lots of varying groups and stakeholders. It's a day for us not only to celebrate, but don't forget a day to educate.”
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Last year, there were close to 100 GMID events in nearly 40 countries, generating more than 850 media mentions and more than 4,000 social media posts.
Some education events have already been taking place. Meeting Professionals International, an association for meeting and event industry planners and suppliers, launched a global series of webinars on March 6 with sessions involving industry advocates in Asia-Pacific/Australia, Europe, Africa, and wrapping up the global tour with Central and South America on March 27.
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The association will continue the educational programming with an 8-hour digital broadcast beginning at 8 a.m. CT on April 3. Registration is free and those interested can learn more at MPI’s Connecting Our Industry.
Last year, MPI has a single, 12-hour broadcast on GMID, attracting more than 2,000 attendees.
“The intent behind reimagining GMID was to ensure we connected and well represented our global peers for this day of celebration and advocacy,” said Tim Luepke, Director, MPI Academy. He said the benefits of creatively shifting strategy are to help provide a platform for a global audience to share specifically what is happening in their part of the world, highlight regions so they can bring to life their own stories, trends, and awareness of how we are connected globally, and allows for digestible content.
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While GMID continues to grow worldwide, it’s “really important that we remember the purpose of bringing everyone together is to remind everybody when we meet, we change the world,” Dominguez said. “There is nothing that has ever happened in this world that didn't start with a meeting, a meeting of great minds. Whether it's scientific advancements, whether it's human rights advancements. It has always started with people coming together face to face.”