Event Planning Picking Up

(KNSI) – Strength in leisure travel has been the primary dynamic at play since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, but that is starting to change. Visit Greater Saint Cloud Executive Director Rachel Thompson says all of a sudden the calendar for convention centers and other halls is filling up.

“This first quarter of the year sure has been a great start to the year, and we are not seeing any hesitation anymore, especially when we talk about event planning.”

Thompson says businesses are becoming more comfortable operating even with the threat of COVID still lingering in the background. If corporate gatherings were held the past couple of years, details were firmed up at the relative last minute, less than a year out. Thompson says that is changing and organizers are once again looking to the future.

“Things all the way out to 2027 aren’t out of the question for us. Those are the conversations we’re currently having for the industry and the recovery of the industry, because that allows for our facilities that we represent to be able to be mindful in the way that they’re filling their space.”

With business travel inching back and leisure travel remaining red hot, airlines are seeing record demand. Delta’s CEO said last week that the demand is giving his company pricing power to help negate the effects inflation would normally have on Delta’s bottom line. Regional airports are struggling to keep flight service maintained, as more popular routes out of major cities are given priority.

___