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ARLINGTON, Va. — Knowland reports that the St. Louis, Missouri, and Illinois markets led the top 25 markets in meeting and event growth in March, with year-over-year growth of 24.3%. Las Vegas ranked second with a growth rate of 20.9%. National associations and educational groups lead in four of the five top markets. The data comes from Knowland’s sales intelligence platform, which is designed to help hoteliers protect and grow their revenue base.
Overall activity in the industry fell 8.1% year-on-year. The average meeting space in the top 25 markets is 3,526 square feet, with secondary markets slightly less at 3,181 square feet. The average attendance among the top 25 was 124 and the secondary average was 119.
- Top five markets by year-over-year event volume growth: March sports events paid off in St. Louis, where the city ranked highest among the top 25 U.S. markets with an average of 158 attendees and an average space usage of 3,979 square feet . Social/athletic and national association events are major drivers, including events such as the Missouri Valley Men’s Basketball Conference, Mid-American Chess Open, American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) and National Hockey Championships.
- St. Louis-Illinois, MO (up 24.3%): Social sports, national associations, education, charity/nonprofit/social services, health care.
- Las Vegas (up 20.9%): education, technology, national associations, weddings, training/education.
- Oahu, Hawaii (up 4.9%): education, finance/banking, national associations, tourism, weddings.
- Nashville, Tenn. (up 3.4%): National associations, technology, health care, finance/banking, manufacturing.
- Seattle, WA (up 11.5%): National associations, philanthropy/nonprofit/social services, education, technology, health care.
- The top five annual growth rates of secondary market activity are: associations and education as the leading industries. The five high-growth secondary markets and popular industries are:
- Greensboro-Winston-Salem, NC (up 45.54%) — Advisory
- Colorado Springs, CO (up 37.29%) — Training/Education
- Louisville, Ky. (up 35.68%) — Charity/Nonprofit/Social Services
- Lexington, Ky. (up 31.40%) — Construction
- Rhode Island (up 26.55%)—Charitable/Nonprofit/Social
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