FENTON, Mo. — Maritz released a new Registration Insights Report, sponsored by Louisville Tourism, that examines three years of attendance data at 30 trade shows, including 360,000 individual attendee registration records.
“Show organizers want to grow attendance and meet attendees where they are. We see this data as an opportunity for show organizers to rethink their pricing strategies and consider alternate methodologies. We will continue to monitor this data as it provides great insights for the entire event ecosystem,” Erin Dunstan, Managing Vice President, Sales at Maritz said.
According to the report, 43% of conference-goers now register within four weeks before the event date — many registering onsite.
What can trade show organizers do? “First and foremost, our message is don’t hate the late registrants. We want to challenge the holy grail that late registrants are all pain with no gain,” Steve O’Malley, COO for Business Event Solutions at Maritz, said. “Our data shows they’re highly motivated attendees and this is reflected in the fact that they actually spend more than the early birds we try so hard to capture.”
A few other tips from O’Malley. “One, plan for them and don’t be caught off guard. In other words, late registration is a feature, not a bug. Second, we would challenge show organizers to rethink traditional pricing models like early-bird discounts as the most effective lever to drive attendance,” O’Malley adds.
It behooves the industry to rethink the 30-day traditional cutoff for housing considering what this data indicates, O’Malley explains. “If 45% of people register in the last 30 days, we’re not representing appropriately the value of our collective business because attendees are missing the cutoff date to book within the block, and we’re performing lengthy audits to identify them as part of the event group after the fact,” he says. “This is something we as an industry need to measure with our hotel partners, their owners, and we as an event partner. If we can fix this, we can reduce manual labor, increase revenue for all by getting more credit for rooms being booked, and make hotel owners more comfortable they’ll fill their blocks and come out better financially. We recommend show organizers arm themselves with data and share it transparently with all stakeholders involved with their event. When they have a line of sight into what to expect, they’re more likely to compromise and work with the organizer to get to the win/win.”
Does Late Mean Lucrative?
One of the takeaways from the research is that late registrants can be some of the most lucrative attendees in terms of spending.
While late registrants may keep planners and stakeholders unsettled, they tend to spend more on ancillary products at meetings, over and beyond tiered pricing that increases as the event draws near.
The study found that those who register in the final four weeks on average spend $59 more compared to those who sign up more than 90 days out.
“Not only are they likely paying a higher registration fee since they’re not getting early-bird pricing, but our data shows they spend about $92 more in ancillary spend like on-demand content, added sessions and social activities. Many of these late registrants are first-time attendees, and even though they delay their decision to attend, once they’re in, they’re all in and are highly motivated to maximize their investment,” O’Malley said.
Related. Maritz Partners With CLEAR for Identity Verification During Event Registration
One in Four Wait Until Final Week
While patterns have mostly normalized, nearly one in four attendees (22%) waits until the final week before the show to register. Nine percent don’t register until they arrive on site.
An astounding 45% delayed registration until less than four weeks before the event. Contrary to popular discourse, late registrations aren’t a new phenomenon. They were prevalent even before COVID.
The pandemic didn’t help. The number of late registrants spiked during the pandemic as people waited until the last minute to commit. In 2022, as shows were just starting to come back to in-person, nearly one quarter of attendees — 24% — didn’t register until the week of the event. Even in 2023, late registrations have lingered: more than one in four attendees (29%) waited until the final two weeks to register — up from 23% in 2019. An alarming 9% registered on site.
The late registration trend is a thorn in the side of show organizers. The consequences range from logistical to financial. Logistical challenges include a lack of hotel rooms/sold out blocks. Convention center strain is caused by adding last-minute F&B, session rooms and space.
Financial consequences to organizers may include missing out on revenue from bookings in the block if hotel cutoff dates have passed, and attrition damages if the block didn’t fill.
Exhibitors Register Late Too
In addition, exhibitors are slightly more likely than attendees to register late. According to the report, 48% of exhibitors register in the last four weeks vs. 45% of attendees. While their companies surely commit to exhibiting long before that four-week window, who and how many staff they send to man their booth may be a last-minute call.
Those who register late tend to be first-time attendees or concentrated in certain industries, or attendees in driving distance.
How can you navigate this new normal? Don’t open registration too early. Use fear of missing out and make registration simple.
What does the future hold for late registration? “We believe AI could play a role in giving all parties involved a better, real-time line of sight into show data that will lead to better outcomes for all. Limited data, or lack of knowledge about how to analyze it, is a barrier in the industry today that we believe technology will help solve,” O’Malley said.
Reach Steve O’Malley at Steve.OMalley@maritz.com and Erin Dunstan at Erin.Dunstan@maritz.com
