Local officials in the meetings and conventions sector are cautiously optimistic about the future, even as they’re in the midst of a 2023 post-pandemic bounce in activity.
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Local officials in the meetings and conventions sector are cautiously optimistic about the future, even as they’re in the midst of a 2023 post-pandemic bounce in activity.
With shortened lead times and lingering uncertainty clouding the long-term outlook, Lesley Mackay, vice-president of meetings and major events with Ottawa Tourism, says event business travel is coming back but it may take some time to shake out.
“We are seeing record levels this year primarily because it is a lot of the COVID rebooking. So those that were postponed because of the pandemic and were moved into 2023. So we're seeing a really strong convention year this year in Ottawa,” she said.
Mackay is optimistic about 2024, which she says is on target to hit 89 per cent of 2019 numbers based on current bookings.
“That’s really good considering we’re just in April,” she said, but admits the longer-term outlook is less clear due to shrinking lead times.
“It's not that I'm not optimistic that 2025 and 2026 will trend the same way, it's just that where we typically would have years of bidding and competing for business and landing it, we're talking about months and, in some cases, we're still receiving leads for this year, in the year, for the year,” she explained.
Mackay pins the shortened lead times on caution and shifting business approaches.
“It's just the uncertainty, right? What do the delegates want? How many people want in-person versus a hybrid? They're not quite sure what they should block, or they have to be sure before they get into contracts again where they're contractually bound and liable,” she said.
She expects many meeting planners are waiting to see the current season through so they can plan and block space appropriately. Ironically, Mackay says, some conferences may be oversubscribed because planners were cautious while securing their booking.
Cole Sheridan, general manager of the Marriott Ottawa, says the hotel has already reached 2019 business levels but is seeing a similar pattern of caution and shortened lead times.
“On the meetings and events side, Ottawa has always been a large association business destination and that's really what we're in for,” Sheridan said. “So we're beginning to see the leads come in and I think as we look towards 2024/2025 and the return of that association business coming into the city, it is really going to be sort of the final piece that needs to come together to get back to and in fact achieve or overachieve those 2019 numbers.”
He adds that the public service returning to work two to three days per week is beginning to normalize business, but it will take some time to understand what that looks like long term.
Another factor going forward could be the impact of the recent federal budget, which promised to find $15 billion in savings over five years by scaling back government travel, the use of outside consultants, and asking most federal departments to cut their spending three per cent.
The head of the Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association says some downtown hotels depend on as much as 30 per cent of their business to come from conventions and meetings. Steve Ball has been outspoken about the importance of government-related business to those downtown properties.
“We have noticed with the federal government not being fully back in the office for the past couple of years, that that has really impacted the corporate travel business and those that come to do business with the federal government,” Ball said.
He says the industry is “definitely recovering” and that Ottawa benefits from being home to a number of head offices for associations that bring delegates and business to the city.
Earlier this year, major meeting and event centres in Ottawa told OBJ that bookings for 2023 were approaching pre-pandemic levels.
