Today we would like to share the results of the marketing research conducted by Rob Davidson, the speaker of the MICE industry training (5-6th of May 2021). To evaluate the impact of the pandemic 134 convention bureaus from 33 European countries have participated in this survey.
According to the results, the main impact of the pandemic was the reduction of public funding for 1/3 of our colleagues, as well among the respondents experienced reduce in the number of employees by an average of 50%.
In addition, this study provided a vision of the future changes expected in the promotion of business tourism destinations.
Many convention bureaus have significant uncertainty about their role and the immediate future of our industry. The two most important unknowns at this moment are the effectiveness of vaccination, as well as the overall capability and willingness of people to travel.
This study has identified several changes in destination marketing expected in the short term:
* Increased use of digital marketing tools: by the respondents' allocated about 20% of the total funding to digital advertising;
* More preparation for hybrid and other digital forms of conferences and tourist events: more than 20% of international fam trips have been converted to a virtual format;
* The need for information support to stakeholders have increased (newsletters, website updates, social media, in particular LinkedIn, etc.);
* The focus is on local and regional markets.
Further analysis of current trends revealed the fact of long-term existence: for example, the digital and hybrid meetings expected to continue even after the pandemic.
However, the major international events will fade into oblivion and transfer to the regional level for the convenience and safety of delegates. Since the issues of healthcare and safety will become of paramount importance in new realities.
Finally, in the future, offline events will be more valued. Traditional meetings mean better communication, better efficiency and delegates will appreciate the possibility to be together and solve issues in person.
You can read the full research here: https://bit.ly/3fl1eUh