Did you work on a meeting that was affected by any of this year’s hurricanes?
Yes: 49%
No: 51%
In the aftermath of hurricanes Charley,
Frances, Ivan and Jeanne, M&C conducted an online poll of 285
meeting planners to determine how this year’s devastating storms
affected their meetings and their plans to hold future events in
hurricane-prone destinations.
About half of those polled (49 percent) said
they had worked on a meeting that was affected by at least one of
this year’s hurricanes. Furthermore, 46 percent of respondents said
the recent storms in the Southeast have affected their likelihood
of booking future events in hurricane-prone areas during hurricane
season, which lasts from June through November.
Interestingly, 30 percent of survey respondents report they
already have booked a future meeting in the hurricane belt during
that potentially risky season. On the other hand, 7 percent have
gone ahead and taken the preemptive measure of canceling their
plans.
But special offers from those areas might be
enticing. The top incentives that would make planners more likely
to book in a hurricane-prone area during hurricane season are
waived attrition fees (82 percent), hurricane guarantees (80
percent) and lower hotel room rates (77 percent).
Overall, the majority of those polled (83 percent) are
confident that repairs to affected hotels will be completed on
schedule. Still, 73 percent say they are concerned about the
completion of repairs to the infrastructure in affected areas, and
74 percent are worried their attendees will not want to travel to
meetings scheduled in a hurricane-prone destination during
hurricane season.
By Art Pfenning, director, M&C Research; [email protected]
