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Buyers begin to deploy meetings technology in Europe.

Article Excerpt
The European market may be a few years behind the industry vanguard in the use of technology for strategic corporate meetings management, but the use of online registration tools, sourcing technology and data consolidation definitely has taken root. Suppliers expect the use of meetings technology to grow exponentially in Europe, and have begun developing products specifically aimed at that market. However, buyers said there still are obstacles to adopting such tools.

The main challenges to rolling out meetings management technology in Europe stem from political and cultural fragmentation. The rise of the European Union has helped resolve many taxation and currency challenges, but obstacles remain.

According to Business Trawl News' European Travel Management Technology Survey, the use of third-party meetings management technology in Europe has begun to expand. Twenty-two percent of respondents said their companies had bought software to assist in meetings management and consolidation, compared with 16 percent who used third-party software in 2005 and 8 percent in 2004.

However, the market still is a few years behind the United States, consultants said. According to a recent BTN Meetings Monitor survey of 186 corporate meeting buyers in the U.S. market, 36 percent of respondents said that their companies had adopted meetings management technology (Meetings Today, April 3).

Adoption of meetings management tools in Europe, whether by large multinational companies or regional ones, has presented a challenge due to cultural and regional differences on the continent. Though the rise of the European Union political structure has helped sourcing technology take root, there remains some fragmentation--such as...

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