China on march to corporate meetings

New research released in Beijing by a British academic indicates that independent organisers catering to corporate clients dominate the meeting planners profession in China.

Rob Davidson, a senior lecturer in business events at the University of Greenwich, London, highlighted several trends and attitudes from 165 planners.

The China MICE Buyers Report pinpoints frustrations about venue pricing, staff turnover at destination marketing organisations, shorter lead times brought on by a slowing economy and annoyances triggered by sales staff at venues and destinations.

Reed Travel Exhibitions helped gather survey respondents from its CIBTM database and Davidson says the exercise represents the first Chinese meeting planners site selection survey.

The findings, gathered online during the summer, were presented on the opening day of CIBTM 2013 at the China National Convention Centre.

Most respondents (65.6 per cent) identified themselves as independent meeting planners working for a range of different types of client with the next largest category (27 per cent) classifying themselves as corporate meeting planners.

Most said they were involved in organising more than 10 events a year with an average of 51 to 100 delegates at each event.

Davidson says this indicates that ‘a considerable percentage of these meeting planners were involved in organising events in the corporate sector’. Meetings were also more frequent with delegate numbers resembling those at corporate meetings in Europe.

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