September 2005
Religious Event Trends
Despite strong attendance gains, religious meetings and conventions are finding it harder to get the rates and dates they want — especially in first-tier cities.
By Julie Ritzer Ross



In the not-too-distant past, religious groups were considered the stepchildren of the convention and trade show industry. The events of 9/11, coupled with an economic downturn, changed all that as suppliers, hurt by the dearth of corporate business, began to take the market far more seriously. Although the corporate segment is fast bouncing back, the religious market continues to report strong attendance gains. Yet religious meetings and conventions are finding it harder and harder to get the rates and dates they want — especially in first-tier cities. EXPO examines the hottest trends for religious groups and how they’re dealing with the challenges they face.

More meetings, increased attendance
Neither sluggish economic conditions, nor continued threats of terrorism, nor other career and personal obligations appear to be preventing religious groups from convening as planned.

Statistics gleaned from the Religious Conference Management Association (RCMA, www.rcmaweb.org) 2004 Member Survey, released in June 2005, bear out the strength of the religious meetings market. According to the survey, RCMA member organizations conducted 16,214 meetings in 2004, an 8.4 percent increase over the 14,964 meetings held in 2003. These events drew a collective 14.2 million attendees. Over the past decade, attendance at religious conventions has increased dramatically. In 1994, only 4.4 million people attended meetings held by RCMA organizations.

“Our members have said that in times like these, affirming their faith — as well as passing on the message to youth — has become more important than ever,” says Jorge Vallejos, Director of Conference Planning for the Mennonite Church USA (www.mennoniteusa.org). Some 8,600 delegates attended the most recent Mennonite USA Assembly & Youth Convention, held July 4-9, 2005, at the Charlotte Convention Center. Attendance at the biannual event was up about one-third from the 2003 convention.

The strength of the religious market also stems from groups’ commitment to adhere to their bylaws, as well as from their belief that church business is sufficiently critical to merit meeting attendance no matter what. “Attendance at our Annual General Assembly, where participation has consistently reached the 3,000-plus mark, is not optional for voting delegates,” says Deborah Davies, CMP, Manager of Assembly Services for the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. (www.pcusa.org). “Our bylaws stipulate that certain things must be decided at a particular time, and nothing seems to deter even the one-third of attendees who do pay their own way from attending.”

Minimal exhibit space, maximized usage
If the 2004 RCMA Member Survey is any indication, exhibits and trade shows are not a huge priority for religious groups. Seventy-eight percent of RCMA members queried said they don’t utilize exhibit space during their meetings, or that their needs don’t exceed 10,000 square feet. Thirty-three percent of participating organizations did not incorporate any exhibits or trade shows into their events in 2004.

As for the volume of exhibit space used at religious meetings, the survey points to little change from previous years, with only 6 percent of RCMA members reporting that their largest meeting required at least 50,000 square feet of exhibit space.

Interestingly, however, some religious organizations are adding exhibit space not to generate revenues, but to break even on event expenditures. The Presbyterian Church U.S.A. is a case in point.

“Originally, the only exhibitors we had at our Assembly were in-house departments and organizations related to the church, which used their booths to spotlight their programs,” says Davies. “If the floor was 10,000 gross square feet, it was a lot. However, at the Greater Richmond Convention Center in 2004, we opened up the floor to church-related commercial companies, like church organ vendors.”

Although Davies couldn’t specify exactly how much exhibit space was utilized in Richmond, she says the fees charged to “outside” exhibitors went far toward offsetting costs incurred in holding the meeting. She anticipates a larger show floor when the group meets at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex in Birmingham, AL, in 2006.

Other religious groups that do book exhibit space are endeavoring to add to the appeal of their trade shows. For example, at its International Christian Retail Show 2005, held July 10-14, at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, the Christian Booksellers Association (www.cbaonline.org) divided more than 100,000 gross square feet of exhibit space into category-specific aisles (for example, books, stationery, video) to help exhibitors better showcase product. There was also a special dedicated retail technology exhibit area where attendees could view demonstrations of point-of-sale software and related in-store solutions.

Hotel negotiation gets tougher
As recently as last year, negotiating with hotels was not a difficult process for religious groups as most chains, still suffering the sting of decreased business from the corporate meetings side, welcomed them with open arms. But things are different now that the corporate and business travel market is on the rebound.

“The market has definitely taken a turn,” says Brian Stevens, Founder/CEO/ President of Conference Direct (www.conferencedirect.com), a site selection and meeting management company. “Everyday low rates are no more, and it’s harder to place a $100-a-room SMERF (social, military, education, religious and fraternal) group — including a religious group — than it was a year or two ago.”

Further, Stevens says hotels are more inclined to sever ties with SMERF groups after their contract reservation cutoff dates. In fact, he reports, some hotels are trying to buy back rooms they may have sold to religious groups for very little during the downturn.

One of Conference Direct’s clients who had booked a hotel for an early July 2005 meeting immediately following 9/11 learned about two months before the event that the rate was no longer available anywhere in the market and that after a 21-day cutoff, rooms would be taken back and rates raised. Another group was promised that if they didn’t return to a certain hotel in 2006 and 2007, the attrition penalties they faced for their 2005 meeting would be forgiven because the hotel wanted the space for other business.

Davies’ experience in booking hotels for her group’s 2012 Assembly mirrors that of Stevens. “We haven’t settled on a city yet, but we’re finding out that while hotels in several different cities started out agreeable to our RFPs, we aren’t getting too far with them,” she says. “Either they aren’t willing to give us a block, or they’re coming back to us with prices we cannot afford and no negotiating room.”

To facilitate hotel negotiations as much as possible, planners at the National Association of Free Will Baptists (www.nafwb.org) point out their group’s previous hotel track record, as well as emphasize what it brings to the property in terms of additional revenues, such as restaurant patronage and fees for extras like spa services. This often makes hotels more amenable to compromising on rates, says Jack Williams, Conference Coordinator.

Return to second-tier cities
While religious groups seem to be having a tougher time on the hotel negotiation front, the same cannot be said of convention centers in second-tier cities, where it’s a buyer’s market. Although some organizations never gravitated away from second-tier venues when tough times opened doors to affordable space in first-tier destinations, there’s a trend among others that “strayed” to return to the fold.

Bill Briscoe, Chief Industry Relations Officer for site selection and conference planning firm Helms Briscoe (www.helms briscoe.com), says his company’s approximately 700 associates, who plan a number of religious events each year, are indeed seeing a trend back to second-tier cities.

“This is prime time for second-tiers,” Briscoe says. “First-tier cities are returning to good health, so it’s hard for religious groups to find desirable rates and availability, as they did for a while. Budget-minded groups — religious and otherwise — are also seeing that the days of waiting until the last minute to book a meeting and assuming there will be availability, are done. In going back to second-tier cities, they’re finding welcome arms and nice new facilities that have been built to ensure competitive strength.”

Ronnie Burt, Vice President of Convention Sales at the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association (www.baltimore.org), corroborates Briscoe’s comments. “Conservatively, we’re seeing double the amount of inquiries from religious groups now than we were18 months ago,” says Burt.

One religious meeting planner, who requested anonymity, reveals that while her group opted to hold its bi-annual meeting in Orlando, FL, in 2003 and Chicago in 2005, it selected Nashville for 2006.

“We were tempted by lower prices in the first tier, but those days are gone, and we’re going back to our second-tier roots,” she says.

Davies is centering her search for a 2012 venue on the second tier as well. “I’ve gotten some pretty good offers — far more attractive than from the first tier, so we’re staying on the second rung,” she says.

16,214 meetings held in 2004
14.2 million attendees in 2004
8.4% Increase in the number of meetings from 2003 to 2004
3,797 conventions and conferences held in 2004
4 days average length of conventions and conferences in 2004