An Investigation of the Rotation Patterns of International Association Meetings and Events

Abstract

International association meetings and events (IAMEs) are a significant specialist segment of the business events sector. Noting the lack of longitudinal research available to confirm how these events rotate globally, regionally, and over time, this study analyzed the rotation patterns of IAMEs based on 236 meeting iterations sampled from the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) database held between 2009 and 2019. Results confirm intuitive rotation patterns not previously determined by a data-driven analysis to date. Namely, that global events rotated more widely geographically but also less often, while most regional events were annual events. These regional events were held in the same continent of the association awarding the rights to host, thereby demonstrating less reach. Delegate numbers for both global and regional events were comparable. Association preferences for rotating IAMEs were geographically heterogenous. The implications of these rotation patterns are discussed, and an associated future research agenda is outlined.