2020 Meeting Room of The Future Report

For the fifth year in a row, IACC is pleased to present a ground-breaking report that combines research and insights into the top issues facing the global meetings and conference industry. The 2020 IACC Meeting Room of the Future™ report brings together insights from meeting and conference venues, hotels and urban conference venues across 3 continents, as well as suppliers including global meeting space designers, architects, technology companies, furniture manufacturers and nutrition experts. 

The report was conducted to gain insights from global venue operators, industry experts and suppliers, with the goal of understanding how they are responding to the changing expectations and needs of meeting planners, as identified in last year's survey of venue operators. 

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“As the industry evolves and expands, just as meeting planners must continually evaluate all elements of the meeting experience, operators and suppliers must also ensure they are meeting and anticipating the changing needs of planners,” said IACC’s CEO, Mark Cooper. 

“The survey was designed to highlight these growing needs; we looked specifically at experience creation, meeting room space and design, social responsibility, generational leadership balances and technology & internet capabilities as well as culinary trends.”

2020 Report Findings

This year’s report highlights several key findings: 

• Socially responsible and ethical operations are a top priority for venue operators this year, as they were for meeting planners last year. 
• Venue operators highlight the importance of creating a human nature connection in their spaces. 
• 76% of venues either offer a virtual site inspection now or are planning to offer one in the next 12 months.  
• Cyber Security will become a bigger priority in the future as technology elements increase in meetings. 
• Millennials make up a significant percentage of the workforce, yet 79% of venues have less than 25% in positions of influence.