Chicago leads all U.S. cities as the preferred location of meeting planners, according to a survey of that group by Development Counsellors International.
The Windy City, with 20.8% of support of planners, edged San Diego (18.5%), San Francisco (18%), Las Vegas (16.3%) and New York (14%), among U.S. cities.
Meetings with destination representatives carry the most influence among planners, they said, followed by dialogue with industry peers, and industry and personal travel experiences.
Only two percent said social media is currently influential in shaping their perceptions of destinations.
Convention bureaus are the top evaluation points for planners and the most common interactions they have.
Meeting planners singled out San Diego, Orlando, Chicago and Las Vegas as the leading destination marketing organizations in U.S.
Internationally, London (20.2%) was the top choice, followed by a tie between Barcelona and Paris (10.1%), as well as Singapore (7.3%) and Hong Kong (6.2%).
Among trade pubs, Meetings & Conventions is read by 56% of respondents, while 42% said they read Successful Meetings.
More info on the study is at www.aboutdci.com/winningstrategiesindestinationmarketing.