Future trends findings to be presented

Jackie Mulligan, Principal Lecturer from the InternationalCentre for Research in Events, Tourism and Hospitality,will be presenting the latest findings from a new future trends reportto industry leaders at EIBTM, the global meetings and events expo,which runs from 19 -21 November.

Jackie will be presenting findings on social changes,in particular generational differences,at the industry tradeshow. The presentation willdraw on the latest research report - Future of Meetings: The bottom line- which brings together the findings from insights from over 1600delegates from four continents alongside expert insights.

As Jackie explains: "I am very much looking forward todiscussing the research with practitioners and considering the actions in eventdesign and communication that should support businesses to be future-ready".

Earlier this year researchcarried out by academics at Leeds Met revealed that the UK meeting industrygenerates 3x more GDP than agriculture and the equivalent of 1 millionfull-time jobs.

The research revealed that:

. The UK meeting industry delivers £58.4 billion to the UK'sgross domestic product (GDP) - making a contribution three times greater thanagriculture to the country's economy.

. The meeting industry is the UK's 16th largest employerwith more than 515,000 individuals directly employed - double that of thetelecoms industry.

. Including indirect employment, the meeting industrygenerates more than 1 million full-time equivalent jobs.

. Meetings made a direct gross value added (GVA)contribution of £20.6 billion -more than legal services, accountancy orbroadcasting.

. The meeting industry contributed £21.1 billion in taxes tothe economy.

. When combined, the space occupied by the 10,000 venues inthe UK is the equivalent of 6,000 football pitches and capable of seating 13.5%of the population at any one time.