Research

Planners Weigh In on the Best Meeting Destinations

The Watkins Research Group asked more than 800 planners to rate destinations based on eight “key attributes,” including hotels, accessibility, convention services and facilities, and having a “superior” CVB or DMO. Here's what they said.

Simply the Best

Here are the 15 cities (listed in alphabetical order) that “are currently doing the best job measuring up to meeting planners’ expectations”:

Boston
Chicago
Denver
Indianapolis
Montreal
Nashville
Orlando
Phoenix
San Antonio
San Diego
San Francisco
Seattle
Toronto
Vancouver
Washington, DC

Highly Recommended

And here are the destinations (in alphabetical order) that survey respondents were most likely to recommend to a business associate or colleague:

Austin
Boston
Cleveland
Denver
Kansas City
Milwaukee
Montreal
Portland
San Antonio
San Diego
San Francisco
Seattle
Toronto
Vancouver

Most Improved

Here are the destinations where scores rose the most since the last survey in 2012. They bear watching as they strategically maneuver to attain/retain the attributes of the overall experience that planners find the most appealing.

Charlotte
Chicago
Cincinnati
Cleveland
Columbus
Nashville
New Orleans
New York
Pittsburgh
San Francisco
Vancouver
Washington, DC

SOURCE: Based on the Watkins Report of the 2014 survey of meeting planners. The copyrighted full report is made available via subscription only to bona fide CVBs or DMOs for use within their own organizations for strategic planning and marketing. For information on obtaining a copy of the 2014 report or being a co-sponsor of the next survey and report, contact Curt@WatkinsResearchGroup.com.

Michelle Russell

Michelle Russell is editor in chief of Convene.