Energy Bill Relief Scheme, UKinbound’s confidence, 2023 meeting industry trends, & more

This Monday’s Insights (16 January 2023) feature brings you the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, UKinbound’s confidence, 2023 meeting industry trends, and more.

Headlines

The Energy Bill Relief Scheme will miss out many organisations in the events industry.

A new feature in Conference News explains that the scheme will provide support to ‘Energy intensive’ industries, but that our industry misses out, partly due to not having its industry classification (SIC) code.

Read more about the scheme, and how mia’s Kerrin MacPhie has reacted to the announcement, here.

The latest Business Barometer data from UKinbound shows confidence levels for the UK’s inbound tourism industry have returned to pre-Covid levels. 

Yet, high energy costs for attractions, supply-side capacity issues for tour operators and difficulties with staffing across the industry are likely to be barriers to strong growth and recovery in 2023.

Conducted by Qa Research, the latest Business Barometer survey, held in December 2022, shows that:

• Expected or confirmed bookings for Q1 of 2023 are at the same level or higher than they were before the pandemic for over half of businesses
• Nearly two-thirds of businesses stated they expected revenue for Q1 of 2023 and booking levels for Q2 of 2023 to be the same or higher than before the pandemic
• There is strong demand from US visitors to come to the UK with nearly half of businesses (44%) reporting they are seeing growth from this market

In contrast, businesses were asked what they expect to be their biggest barriers to growth over the next 12 months. For 61% of tour operators, it is ongoing issues with supply chain capacity and for 76% of attractions, their biggest concerns are inflation and the cost of energy. Ongoing recruitment and retention of staff remain a concern for nearly half of all respondents to the survey.

CEO Joss Croft said, “This data currently shows a mixed picture for the UK’s inbound tourism industry.

“It is great to see that many businesses are generally feeling optimistic about this year and confidence levels are returning to levels seen before the pandemic. It is also very positive of course that the UK is experiencing high demand from the US market and the fact that the Chinese market is also now re-opening. Unfortunately, however, our members are still experiencing some fairly fundamental problems.

“Unsurprisingly, inflation and energy costs remain a big concern – particularly for attractions, especially with the scaling back of support with energy bills from April. Our tour operator members are also telling us that they are experiencing issues with their supply chains such as not being able to secure enough quality accommodation for clients due to a reduction in bedstock because of Government contracts. Furthermore, all parts of the industry are experiencing difficulties with accessing the skilled staff that they need.

“We have some significant events taking place in 2023 in the UK – most notably His Majesty The King’s Coronation in May swiftly followed by the Eurovision Song Contest and whilst these events will generate a lot of positive attention for the UK, we cannot take this for granted.

“International tourism is a competitive business, and if we are to fully realise the economic benefits from these events and help turbocharge the recovery of the UK’s inbound industry – which is still suffering from ‘long Covid’ due to being the first industry to be impacted by the pandemic and the last to recover – the Government needs to increase its efforts and spend to successfully market the UK to potential visitors around the world.”

Click here for access to the full report.

According to Meetings and Incentive Travel, The Event Marketing Association (EMA) has been taken over by PCMA.

EMA’s membership consists of 800 UK-based corporate event marketing professionals who will immediately become part of the PCMA (US-based professional convention management association). The acquisition follows PCMA’s takeover in 2020 of CEMA – the corporate event marketing association.

EMA chair Richard Waddington said: “The opportunity of merging into PCMA and joining forces with CEMA to grow the representation and voice of the corporate internationally is an opportunity for EMA not to be missed. PCMA will bring far greater resource and capability, the opportunity for greater growth and most important far greater value for our members and partners.”

More on this latest association merger here.

Skift Meetings has published its list of seven meeting industry trends for 2023.

Covering everything from experience-first events, and the ‘weaponization of travel’, to inclusivity and data, this insightful report is a great read for events and meetings profs. 

Check out Skift’s overview here, where you can also download the full report.

Double Take

The Meetings Industry Association (mia) has joined forces with Stress Matters to provide support and help members make wellbeing a strategic priority.

According to the Event Industry News, the collaboration will see mental health first aid training, a wellness manager programme and a series of webinars and discounted courses being offered to help members reduce the stress of their teams.

The rollout follows a recent mia survey that revealed while sustainability is a key part of the business strategy for 90% of organisations working in the sector, a third admit that they are currently operating without a mental health strategy.

Read more about the new initiative here.