Knowland's monthly meetings and events data for February shows that meetings volume from January to February increased 48.1 percent. The volume was up 340 percent over February 2021.

Highlights of the month:

• Average attendees are nearly in line with 2019 numbers. The average number of attendees per event in February 2022 was 102, compared to 39 in February 2021 and 115 in February 2019.
• Average space used/attendees ratio is back to normal proportions. The average space used in February 2022 was 2,589 square feet while meetings in February 2021 averaged 1,560 square feet and 2,827 square feet in February 2019. Proportionally from a per-person perspective, 2022 meeting space used averaged 24 square feet per person as opposed to 40 square feet per person in 2021 and 25 square feet per person in 2019.
• Top five market growth: The top five growth markets, in order, in February were San Diego, Phoenix, Chicago, Atlanta and Dallas.
• Corporate meetings continue to be the dominant segment. The corporate segment represents greater than 63 percent of meeting and event business with technology, healthcare and training/education taking the lead as the largest industry groups. From a recovery standpoint compared to 2019 levels perspective, online retailer, art/entertainment and sports entertainment and media are the segments at the highest level of recovery captured in February.

“After a minor setback in January, February had a strong showing beyond even normal seasonal increases from January to February,” said Kristi White, chief product officer at Knowland. “The industry, as well as meeting planners, seem to be shaking off the concerns of omicron and settling in for steady growth in the coming months. February’s growth combined with a return to 2019 meeting sizes bodes well for the path to recovery.”