The markets may have been in recovery mode over the past year and transactions looked promising for some sectors, but planners shoudn't expect freewheeling spending in the corporate meetings and events industry any time soon.

That’s partly thanks to the federal election in May and the recent municipal election in Toronto that made it obvious people are looking for control over budgets and are demonstrating concern over spending, according to Helen Van Dongen, national director, event management, KPMG Management Services, Toronto. “I think that means, as planners, we are going to be working with organizations with focus over the next little while.”

Meeting planners can look forward to a manifestation of the current volatile market in the form of rate pressure, says Van Dongen. “The last couple of years have been slow on the venue side and I think it’s not unexpected that as things get busier and as demand picks up, we are going to be expected to pay more – in the way of guestroom rates for sure, and meeting space and event rates as well. So we need to be prepared for that.”

Tighter budgets, shorter lead times and stronger revenue management are a few standard challenges to heed, says Van Dongen.

CM&E:  Is there a prominent sentiment among professionals in the corporate meetings and events industry?

HVD: Things are really picking up in Canada. It’s been a while that we’ve been dealing with a slow economy and now it’s actually noticeable that things are improving. I was on the show floor at Incentive Works this week and all the suppliers that I talked to – whether they were with hotels, other venues, audiovisual companies or other suppliers – we’re all talking about the fact that the fall is jam-packed, that 2012 is looking really strong, and amazingly enough, that lead times are actually extending on those recurring meetings that people expect they’re going to have again in this coming year. That’s good news for the suppliers and good news for the planners who may have an opportunity to breathe coming up.

CM&E:  What were some of the touchpoints for 2011 and what we can expect in 2012?

HVD: In Canada, we’ve been out of the recession for at least a full year, depending on the sector you’re in. It might even be longer than that. The May federal election in Canada resulted in a Conservative swing and here in Toronto we’ve had a municipal government turn towards a conservative approach. I think what that means is people are going to remain vigilant about their bottom line, very respectful on the budgets and means we know what to expect on the planning side. Recent market volatility has been a concern for everybody and I think it’s important to understand the difference between a volatile market and a volatile economy. We’ve certainly seen the former in the last few weeks, but the economy in Canada is still stable and strong and still growing. Any concerns that people have about what’s going to happen over the next 12 to 18 months are legitimate where they’re looking outside of our boundaries. But there is reason for optimism here and I think planners are going to get busier and busier.

CM&E:  Can you address some of the issues in the arena and how would you approach them?

HVD: Lead times, as ever, are shrinking as much as the annual events that take place and can be predicted as much as 12 months out are still happening and people are still willing to commit early. There’s still a lot of, “I need a meeting in a month.” My hotel friends are telling me they are getting requests for meetings in 10 days…Revenue management is also something hotels are going to be looking at. It’s very important that the mix that they get from any one particular client touches as many buckets in the hotel as possible. As much as we as planners don’t like to hear that, as much as we are sometimes limited in the way that we can approach venues for longer-term business, it means that we can think more broadly what businesses we’re bringing to the hotel…It’s the old aphorism: speed, price, accuracy – pick any two. It’s always difficult trying to deliver 110 per cent every time. The reality is if you want something quick and accurate, you’re going to have to pay more for it. If you’re willing to take a little more time for it, you can get accurate and cheap. And so the combination of those three elements is key. And you can apply that to just about everything. Certainly, the revenue management piece makes us look harder at what we’re doing and be creative in the way that we partner with our hotels. We need to perhaps not take no for an answer so quickly, but there is always going to be a creative solution. We’re just going to have to figure out what that is. And when you’re working with the right suppliers, there is interest in that “come as you are.” So, with any luck, everybody gets what they want and we have a win-win.