The year 2010 opened with a dramatic surge in meetings reservations in some countries, but the good news for buyers is that prices have not followed the upward trend – yet!

After a significant fall in 2009, meetings appear to be back in fashion. Bookings in the United States taken so far in 2010 by BCD Meetings & Incentives are not only way up on last year, but they are also 10 percent higher than for the same period in 2008.

While this is good news for meetings suppliers, and a promising indication of an improving economy, it could set alarm bells ringing for corporate clients that their buyer’s market is coming to an end. In 2009, volumes and spend were down but savings rose as hotels and other meeting vendors slashed prices to compete for a dwindling market.

Yet in spite of the recent spike in demand, pricing has not started to shift upwards, according to Charlene Rabideau, senior vice president for strategic meetings management with BCD Meetings & Incentives. “It is still a buyer’s market. That hasn’t changed,” she says. “Hotels are saying it will change, but prices have not followed the rise in bookings at this point.”

Rabideau believes rates have stayed depressed because there are still major holes to fill in 2010. Many of the bookings result from pent-up demand that has finally been released by companies making new marketing or meetings budgets available for 2010. This has allowed events that were postponed last year to go ahead this year. However, suppliers fear the new budgets may not last long or could be reduced if the fragile economic recovery falters.

Rabideau is also seeing significant variation from sector to sector. “Financial services companies are still hesitant, but the pharmaceuticals industry is very active,” she says.

Whether meeting costs start to arc upwards soon or not, the pressure is on buyers to control spend as diligently as they can. BCD Meetings & Incentives has the following tips for sound strategic management in the current market:

1. Consolidate globally
Many companies, especially in the U.S., have finally succeeded in rolling out a successful meetings-management program in their home country. Rabideau is seeing a big trend this year for those same corporations to expand their programs internationally.

2. Consolidate second-tier vendors
Now that meetings managers have put hotel and venue programs in place, the other new frontier they are opening up this year is negotiated deals with a secondary layer of vendors. These include suppliers such as audio-visual specialists, ground transportation providers and destination management companies.

3. Lock in your rates
If the present recovery is sustained, rates will eventually rise as well. It therefore makes sense to negotiate good deals now before the shift to a seller’s market happens.

4. Spot the tactical rate opportunities
Last year, many companies changed their choice of meeting venues in response to media and political accusations of lavish spending on “jollies.” Examples of the backlash included switching from leisure destinations to business cities, downgrading from luxury to business hotels and avoiding any property whose name includes the word “resort.” Some venues which lost out from this shift have had to slash rates to win back their corporate customers. The result? For savvy buyers, there are some excellent bargains out there.

5. Don’t forget the basics
Not all companies have completed the journey to building a strategic meetings program,  and many have probably not even started. BCD Meetings & Incentives can advise you how to get on the road toward gathering good data that will enable you to leverage your spend and negotiate better deals with fewer suppliers.