Monday Insights – June 20th

This Monday’s Insights feature brings you the industry headlines you may have missed from the last week.

Headlines

ICCA (International Congress and Convention Association) has released its annual analysis of association meetings worldwide. 

The latest ICCA Ranking Report examines 8000 meetings scheduled for 2021 and categorises them based on how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the meetings. The report also compares last year’s affected meetings with ICCA’s analysis of meetings in 2020. 

After a hiatus in 2020, ICCA Rankings have returned to the 2021 ICCA’s Destination Performance Index (DPI). The DPI ranks destinations’ success in winning the original bid, COVID-19 event policies, adaptability and technological capabilities to convert on-site events into virtual or hybrid events – thereby maintaining business continuation.

“Now that the global meetings industry has had more time to adapt to the challenges of the pandemic, we wanted to acknowledge and reward the effort of destinations to not only keep these crucial meetings going but also to improve their business operations. The investments that destinations have made in new technologies, partnerships, and advocacy initiatives will continue to drive our industry forward,” 

ICCA CEO Senthil Gopinath

He continued, “Although we have yet to return to pre-pandemic numbers, we have gained significant ground on the road to full recovery. Further, we have transformed the meetings industry in the process.”  

The report reveals that the year 2021 brought out a “show must go on” mentality in the industry. For example, the market share of virtual and hybrid meetings doubled in just one year. Business continuation also increased by 30% while business cancellation dropped from 61% to 31%. 

“This report delivers a more holistic representation of the pandemic’s impact on association meetings globally. Moreover, it reveals strong and definitive signs of progressive recovery for the industry,” Gopinath said. 

The full 2021 ICCA Ranking (Destination Performance Index [DPI]) is available to ICCA members and complements ICCA’s online Destination Comparison Tool (DCT). 

M&IT Magazine has spoken to Kerrin MacPhie about the Meetings Industry Association’s (mia) Connect Day heading to Liverpool.

The mia’s latest Connect Day takes place at Liverpool’s Titanic Hotel on Tuesday 12 July. mia chief executive, Kerrin MacPhie, told M&IT that the destination was chosen to provide “accessible networking opportunities for professionals working across various UK regions.” 

The mia Connect Days aims to create a peer-to-peer space for open discussion, insight, solution sharing and support. Allowing delegates to immerse themselves in an intimate series of discussions to gain crucial insights and ask burning questions, to the benefit of all attendees.

View the day’s agenda or register, here.

EFS Europe’s Managing Director has spoken to Event Industry News about the sustainability of temporary event flooring products for events.

EFS Europe’s temporary event flooring products are widely used across the event industry, and this feature explains what happens to them at their end of life cycle. 

“We are finding that there are increasing pressures to provide sustainable products to reduce the event industry’s carbon footprint. Both our walkway and roadway products can be made from recycled materials and can be recycled. They are manufactured in polypropylene, which means they can be ground down into pellets and repurposed. To further reduce carbon emissions, we also have 7500sqm of event flooring in Scotland to service events with a local crew to install.”

Read more about EFS Europe’s mission to be as environmentally friendly as possible, and how the company works with manufacturers globally to produce, supply & recycle their event carpet. 

In a further Event Industry News sustainability-focused article, PDC puts the spotlight on badges, lanyards & ticketing.

Focusing on the need for eco-friendly and sustainable products, the organisation has introduced many new products. Check out the full feature here.

Doubletake

Camaraderie, optimism and fortitude mark 20 years of IMEX in Frankfurt. The first IMEX in Frankfurt since 2019 proved to be a momentous occasion for the global meetings, events and incentive travel industry this week. It was marked by an outpouring of camaraderie, celebration and, most importantly, business. 

After an enforced break of three years due to the pandemic, this IMEX show was always going to feel special. The question was, how special? Feedback from exhibitors and buyers made that abundantly clear. Day one saw Messe Frankfurt land two unexpected contracts, an endorsement of the team’s decision to exhibit on their own stand for the first time in 20 years and to promote their venue more assertively. 

Throughout the IMEX education programme, many presentations focused on future trends, current behaviours and changes to ‘industry norms’. Shorter sales cycles; an emphasis on sustainability; niche, highly targeted events plus shorter meetings and events are all forecast, and desired by attendees. Wellness is now front and centre, with a change in the story: an end-to-end duty of care to attendees, including consideration for their mental health, rather than a traditional focus on smoothies for breakfast or morning yoga, although both are expected too. 

Check out EDGE Venues’ representative’s view of IMEX Frankfurt on our Instagram reels.