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2012 MEETINGS INDUSTRY FORECAST: The Recovery, More or Less 45 The big question for 2011 was, how strong will the recovery be?The big questions for 2012 seemto be, has the recovery even begun—and will there be another recession?Yes to the first and no to the second, according to experts in the lodging, travel, and exhibitions sectors.

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LODGING Overall Continued Growth “Meetings will continue to be shorter in duration, and the elimination of a signature event or meal period will persist. On a positive note, we are start- ing to see the return of small incentive trips by corporations for their top performers.” Barry Goldstein

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TRAVEL Should Be a Little Brighter “Business meetings are going to be driven by the growth in non-foreign business output. If you’d asked what the likelihood of growth in that sector would be two months ago, I would have said that next year would have been fairly sluggish. But I’m starting to turn a little more optimistic.” David Huether

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EXHIBITIONS Remarkable Resilience “Forecasts of future economic performance for almost any industry are subject to rapid and very unpredictable revision. What is indisputable, how- ever, is that the exhibitions and events industry contin- ues to demonstrate remarkable resilience both here and abroad.” Steven Hacker, CAE

pcmaconvene November 2011

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Cover illustration by Jessica Hische