Complete Story
06/03/2022
Updates 06/03/2022: Ohio's Travel Industry and Current Travel Research
OHIO HAS LOST $10.7 BILLION IN TRAVELER SPENDING SINCE JANUARY 2020, BUT EXPERIENCED GROWTH OVER 2019 FOR THE FIRST TIME LAST MONTH. RECOVERY IS HIGHLY UNEVEN.
Key findings from US Travel released June 2, 2022:
- Ohio has lost $10.7 billion in traveler spending since January 2020.
- Loss in traveler spending means fewer tax dollars - $319 million loss in local taxes, $615 million loss in state taxes and $1.1 billion loss in federal tax dollars.
- For the first time since March 2020, Ohio experienced a growth over 2019 traveler spending, as April showed a 1% growth. May reported a -7% spending compared to 2019.
- While Ohio is trending toward recovery overall, we must remember that recovery is highly uneven and is being propelled primarily in the leisure market and car travel.
- Business travel is not anticipated to recover until 2024. Transient business travel is anticipated to be at 81% relative to 2019 in 2022, while group business (meetings, conferences, etc.) is predicted to be at 70% of 2019 levels in 2022.
ATTRACTION GIFT SHOPS HAVE A ROLE IN GETTING PEOPLE THROUGH YOUR DOORS
Key findings from IMPACTS Research published May 25, 2022
IMPACTS Research analyzes those interested and visiting different types of attractions, including museums, zoos, aquariums, science centers, parks, performing arts venues, etc. In this study they focused on 16 types of exhibit-based attractions that charge admission and serve more than one million visitors a year.
- Members have been important to attractions even before the pandemic, as members have a 4.5x greater monetary value.
- The mission of your organization motivates members, even more so now. Mission-motivated members (versus those who just want the discounts) buy higher level membership, renew more frequently and are important for word-of-mouth.
- Trust in museum has increased.
- The top reason (63%) why expired members haven’t renewed yet is simply because they intend to renew when they next visit, and they haven’t done so yet. Getting them through your doors has never been more important.
- This is where your gift shop plays a part, as 20% of members cite the gift shop as a reason why they decide to visit the attraction in the first place, compared to 5% of non-members.
- The quality of items and capacity of your gift shop may play a part, as researchers found diminishing importance of visiting gift shops as a key motivator when they looked beyond the 16 key exhibit-based attraction types. If you aren’t carrying quality and unique items they can’t find elsewhere, then the desire to shop doesn’t have as much punch.
GROWTH OF IN-PERSON MEETINGS PREDICTED, WITH NETWORKING THE KEY REASON
Key findings from MPI Spring Outlook:
- While 10% of meeting planners surveyed say their business is already back to levels they’ve not seen since 2019, a majority - 64% of respondents -- don’t expect business to reach that level until 2023 or later.
- Planners are optimistic that more will attend in-person events, with 85% of meeting planners predicting growth versus only 75% who said the same thing this winter.
- When asked which elements will impact attendance most, respondents cited networking receptions (65%) and “ability to have spontaneous conversations” (63%).
FLEXIBILITY STILL IMPORTANT WHEN WORKING WITH MEETING PLANNERS, OPTIMISM GROWS, TEMPERED BY BUDGET CONCERNS
Key findings from PCMA published May 9, 2022:
Convene monitors expectations of meeting planners and suppliers for PCMA. This study compared February 2022 results with April 2022 results.
- More in-person events are being planned. Less than half the planners in February were planning in-person-only events through June 2022, while nearly 7 out of 10 planners in April were in the midst of planning in-person events for Q2-3.
- There’s a slight increase in those predicting pre-pandemic attendance or better, with 18% (April) versus 10% (February) believing attendance will bounce back up to those pre-pandemic numbers; and 11% versus 6% anticipating they will have up to 50% or more attendees than before COVID.
- There’s a growing concern among planners on the costs of in-person events. Forty-one percent (41%) cited budgeting as a major challenge in April versus 33% who said the same thing in February.
- Growing expectations to elevate the in-person experience could be creating further budget challenges. The demand for unique and special in-person experiences comes at a cost, and this is difficult for planners to deliver given increased overall costs and fewer paid attendees.
- Uncertainty is still a factor. More than one-third — the same percentage as in February — said they will be unable to estimate numbers until they get closer to their event date. Flexibility from supplier is still needed.
