The Oxford Business Group is worried that the cost-effective means of reaching a wider audience provided by virtual experience poses a great threat to the future of the world’s Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) sector.
This is coming on the heels of a transition that has seen many organizations embrace virtual meetings following the introduction of travel restrictions and social distancing guidelines occasioned by the COVID 19 pandemic.
“Regardless of the appeal of traditional events, a virtual strategy enables exhibitors and speakers to use cost-effective means to reach a wider audience without the need for participants to travel.
It may, therefore, be unsurprising to see a broader range of events offering a remote attendance option in the future, particularly as the global population continues to become more familiar with online communications software and live streaming technologies, “ OBG stated in a report during the week.
The group is however optimistic that the early appetite to return to traditional events – with the opportunity for in-person networking and an atmosphere that is difficult to replicate online – should reassure industry players of a rebound once coronavirus-related restrictions are eased.
Before the outbreak of the virus – and the subsequent introduction of travel restrictions and social distancing guidelines – the MICE segment had presented a promising growth avenue for emerging markets seeking to diversify their tourism offering.
For example, earlier this year DCT Abu Dhabi announced a Dh600m ($163.3m) fund to attract business and entertainment events to the emirate. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia – the host of the 2020 G20 Leaders’ Summit in November, along with more than 10,000 other MICE events per year – has invested approximately $1.6bn in hosting facilities since 2016.
However, the advent of the COVID 19 pandemic threw a spanner in the works of the gains recorded amid global travel restrictions, social distancing protocols and prohibitions on mass gatherings, the (MICE segment has been forced to adapt to the coronavirus context, with some events shifting online and others being deferred.
To further underscore the depth of this on the sector, some conferences and exhibitions have been rearranged as virtual events later this year.
In Africa and the Middle East, the end of September will see the first virtual Arab African Mining Conference and Exhibition. Participating nations will include Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, and the event aims to leverage digital resources to enhance attendee experience both before and during the event.
Ahead of the event, participants can learn about the wider extractives landscape and review a range of potential investment opportunities in the region via the digital mining platform, i-MINE. During the event, attendees can not only listen to content being broadcast live from Africa and the Middle East but also arrange one-on-one virtual business meetings.
In Nigeria, the fifth annual edition of the Kaduna Investment Summit, KADINVEST 5.0, had been scheduled to take place in April. After initially being postponed indefinitely, the event will now be held as a webinar in September with a focus on fostering innovation, as well as encouraging investment in industry and infrastructure development.
Elsewhere, events have been restructured as a blend of online and offline experiences to minimize physical contact.
The 2020 Mining Investment London conference and exhibition, originally planned for September, will now take place as both an in-person conference and virtual event in December, while its Asia installment has been tentatively scheduled to go ahead in the regular format in Singapore, which has cautiously begun to loosen Covid-19 restrictions, in November.
Thailand, meanwhile, is continuing to host physical events with numerous health and safety protocols in place – evidence of the appetite that remains for regular operations.
As a result, OBG is unsure whether changes within the MICE segment will remain once the health threat has subsided while calling for a blended approach that could also enable emerging markets to use technology effectively to showcase their facilities, infrastructure, and unique offering to an even wider audience, and help further raise their profile on the global economic stage.
“A swift pivot to online platforms can virtually bridge some of the interactive gaps caused by restrictions on mass congregations, and should, therefore, help to soften the blow of Covid-19 on the MICE segment. The sector – which, in the Asia Pacific, is a key driver of not only economic growth but also regional alliance – will eventually be able to get back on track with a concerted effort from the sector’s stakeholders,” Ed Gallinero, managing director at PCM Asia, which hosts investment-focused events for industry professionals, told OBG.