IMEX Frankfurt 2024, Edinburgh business events, ISO 20121, HOSPA report & more

This month’s news round-up brings you some of the industry and association news and views from April 2024, including IMEX Frankfurt 2024, Edinburgh business events, ISO 20121, HOSPA report, and more.

Headlines

4,000 buyers are expected at IMEX Frankfurt 2024.

The event takes place at Messe Frankfurt on 14-16 May.

Carina Bauer, CEO of the IMEX Group told M&IT, “We know that face to face events are where some of the most valuable business conversations take place – according to EIC research as many as 22 per cent of new customers are generated through in-person events. Our show’s carefully designed to facilitate this and, from the demand we’re currently seeing from both buyers and suppliers, the appetite to meet and do business as we head into the second quarter of the year is impressive.”

Suppliers representing destinations, venues, hotels are ready to do business at the show. And an area of the show floor devoted to technology will showcase solutions covering payments, virtual events and content management among others.

Find out more at IMEX Frankfurt.

Convention Edinburgh has partnered with Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce to showcase the power of business events for the city.

At an inaugural partnership event – ‘Why business events matter: the economic power and impact of events’ – on Tuesday 30th April at the EICC, speakers from across Edinburgh’s events, technology, and academic sectors will discuss how a collaborative cross-sector approach can pay dividends for the city.

The speakers lined up for the event are Professor Gary Hutchison, Dean of Applied Science at Edinburgh Napier University, Turing Fest’s chief operating officer Tanya Gaxiola, and Lesley Williams, Director at Caellium and former Managing Director of Best Cities.

Marshall Dallas, EICC, CEO, said: “We’re excited to partner with the Chamber of Commerce, and we fully expect next week’s event to be insightful given the calibre of speakers we have in place.  Importantly, it also reflects on the shared passion we have for Edinburgh and how business events can have an outsized benefit towards local economic impact.”

VisitScotland’s Business Events Association Report in March revealed that business event visitors to Scotland spend more per head than any other kind of visitor, with an International delegate spending approximately £450 per day.  By contrast, leisure visitors from Scotland’s highest-value international market, the USA, spend around £180 per day according to latest data.

The EICC took on the guardianship of Convention Edinburgh on behalf of the City of Edinburgh Council in May 2022, with a remit that includes attracting conferences and events to Edinburgh, supporting city bids, and assisting event bookers during the destination and venue selection process for their conferences.

During this time, Convention Edinburgh has received over 400 enquiries, confirming 60 events which will attract over 21,000 delegates to the city, equating to £47 million of economic impact. 

Amanda Wrathall, Lead at Convention Edinburgh said: “The small but agile team we put together for Convention Edinburgh has done a fantastic job over the last couple of years, with their performance reflected in the positive numbers that have come through. Credit must also go to the multiple city partners who have supported and contributed to the business event outcomes to date.”

Liz McAreavey, Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, added: “The £47 million economic benefit clearly illustrates the value that the convention bureau brings to the city. In addition to this, the bureau’s work supports jobs across a wide range of sectors in the city, both directly and indirectly.

“It is vital that our policy-makers understand the role and impact of business tourism, which attracts high-spending visitors, many of whom will return to the city for holidays after attending business events here, and some even to live and work. It is a crucial component in promoting our city to the global community and has proven to be extremely successful.”

AGF (A Greener Future) has published its latest Festival Sustainability report for European festivals.

The 2024 report compiles a year’s worth of research and analysis from over 40 festivals across Europe into sections covering mobility, food and drink, water and sanitation, power and fuel use, waste and recycling, and carbon emissions.

There have been some significant areas of improvement, such as the increase in bans on single-use plastic serve ware from 54% in 2022 to 75% in 2023, the reduction in average waste per person per day from 0.75 kg to 0.5 kg, and more festivals going fully vegan or vegetarian.

AGF also expanded its carbon footprint breakdowns for festivals and compared emissions by type of festival. The results further highlighted the significant impact of travel and transport and that food and drink are often the second largest source of emissions after audience transport. Festivals that moved to a fully meat-free event reduced their food-related emissions by over 60% on average.

Claire O’Neill, AGF CEO, Says: “2024 is the 18th year that AGF is assessing festival impacts worldwide. It’s good to see improved understanding, data, and performance from events. We are seeing progress, but more still needs to be done to now additionally adapt to changing and more extreme weather. There is a huge opportunity for collaboration with other sectors such as transport, energy, water and food who all have targets for net zero and protecting ecosystems. New ways of doing things need dynamic and attractive platforms to reach people, which is what festivals are. While progress is good, the background is changing, adversely – We’re on a path to net zero but the path just got steeper, so we need to keep upping our game.”

Anyone interested in how the festival sector compares to corporate events can read AGF’s full report, here.

The SITE GB board has announced that Deborah Crosswell and Joe O’Connell will be stepping up to the role of co-presidents in 2025.

The pair will take over from Anthony Kelly and Leigh Butterfield who will stand down at the end of 2024 but remain on the board as immediate past presidents.

Since January 2023, the chapter has been led by co-presidents Kelly and Leigh, who with the support of the board, have seen the chapter achieve its largest membership level since inception and attract a record-breaking attendance at the now-renowned Annual Christmas Lunch in 2023, raising over £26,000 for industry charity Meeting Needs.

Crosswell, client relationship director at creative communications agency Top Banana, and O’Connell, founder and CEO of growing events agency Black Book, are both currently serving as directors on the board and between them bring many years industry experience to their co-presidency.

“We are delighted to be taking the reins from Anthony and Leigh and look forward to working with the board to build on their strong legacy and continue growing and developing the SITE GB chapter,” they said.

“It’s been a privilege to be serve as co-presidents of SITE GB over the past 18 months, during which there has been many highlights for the chapter. There is still plenty of work to do before the end of the year, and we’re looking forward to continuing to lead the board as we deliver more fun and inspiring events for the UK incentive travel community over the next few months,” added Kelly and Butterfield.

Report shows a 14% total revenue increase in UK conferences and events.

The sector overview, compiled by HOSPA (The Hospitality Professionals Association), is based on data from sources such as Hotstats, Venue Performance, and De Vere Hotels.

The UK hospitality industry appears healthy, with a positive outlook for ‘2024 and beyond’ – by the end of 2023, reported revenues ‘bounced back to be more or less in line with 2019 levels’. 

What’s more, when comparing 2023 against 2022, ‘hospitality businesses, typically, enjoyed a more than 14% increase in Total Revenue – and a 13.7% growth in Gross Profit.’

According the The Business of Events, Jane Pendlebury, CEO of HOSPA, said: “As we recently passed the four year anniversary of the start of the pandemic, in some respects it feels like a distant memory. But the effects on the hospitality industry were so profound, it left scars on the sector that will take longer to heal. Analysing conferences and events though has presented a refreshing and reassuring picture – which shows that recovery, in some instances, has been very positive. 

And while some aspects have returned to 2019 levels, others, specifically conference and banqueting have been reinvigorated and revitalised to the point they’ve surpassed previous performance. This is fantastic to see.

As a sector, it’s important we take stock and look at areas of strength and weakness. And whilst parties have declined –impacted by economic factors as well as post-pandemic optics – the fact that other areas of hospitality have come to the fore in their place, just serves to underline the resilience of the hospitality industry. It’s something we should all be grateful for!”

Download the full report from hospa.org.

The Events Industry Alliance has published its eighth Size and Scale Index for Exhibitions report.

The Events Industry Alliance (EIA) – the collective associations of AEO, AEV and ESSA, has published the eighth Size and Scale Index for Exhibitions (SASIE) report.

The total number of event days and total gross space sold has increased since 2022 and is now broadly on a par with pre-Covid figures. However, average duration and average gross and net size of exhibitions were slightly down on the previous year.

Marija Erzen, co-owner, Solutions2, ESSA chair and current EIA chair, commented, “The report provides vitally important market insight for our industry and includes cumulative comparative data from 2015.”

Rachel Parker, AEV director, said, “The report is now the only one of its kind providing in depth analysis of UK exhibitions and is of great value for both our members and in discussions with government. As always, we are appreciative of the time and resource contributed by the participating AEV and AEO members, many of whom have been providing data since the report’s inception in 2014.”

Erzen remarked, “With over 1,000 exhibitions, the 2023 report shows the number of exhibitions were up significantly and at comparable levels to the pre-Covid period. Visitor and exhibitor numbers also showed signs of recovery although not yet reaching pre-Covid levels. We have seen some venues reporting their highest number of new show launches helping to truly underline the positive impact of the exhibitions industry on UK trade.”

The increase in events in 2023 is partly explained by a significant upturn in conference events (with minimum 500m2 of exhibition space) but also many new consumer events, impacting positively on totals.

Parker added, “The UK exhibitions industry will continue to play a crucial role in driving international trade and prosperity for business event destinations across the UK while, at the same time, supporting the government’s growth agenda. We will continue working with policy makers to reduce trade friction and ensure greater access to markets for the industry.”

The report is compiled annually by RJS Associates and Tony Rogers Conference & Event Services.  Participating AEV and AEO members submit the data which is then weighted and analysed to produce the report.

Read the full report via the EIA, here.

BSI has published updated ISO 20121 sustainability standard for events.

BSI has published an updated version of the event management sustainability framework, ISO 20121, with increased focus on climate change, supply chain, and human rights.

Find out more in from the YouTube clip below, from Positive Impact – the not for profit organisation set up to provide education, training and inspiration for the event sector on how to operate sustainably:

Power of Events Schools Engagement Programme is back for summer.

The Power of Events, the not-for-profit platform that provides an overview showcase of the UK Events Industry, event analysis and data evaluation to support the community, has reported significant progress in its Schools Engagement Programme, launched in January 2024. In the three months to March, it has engaged over 2,750 pupils at 15 schools in the East of England pilot, supported by EIF grant funding.

The programme has received positive feedback from ambassadors who have witnessed first-hand the impact the programme has on pupils.

The pilot has reported a 63% growth in pupils’ understanding of what the events industry is and linked consideration of a career in the events industry. It climbs from an initial 2% pre-presentation to 65% post-presentation.

There are a further 35 school engagements booked in during the summer term which PoE says should result in total engagement of over 9,000 pupils.

Plans are being initiated for expanding across the UK into new regions in the autumn with more information promised soon.

Andy Rice from MEI, one of the Schools Engagement Programme ambassadors said, “Supporting the Power of Events with their schools initiative has been very rewarding. It has been heartening to see glazed faces of indifference transform to engaged enthusiasm when the breadth and depth of the events industry is shared and the opportunities which exist for young people and the multitude of paths to entry are explained.”

Email: [email protected] for details on how to get involved.

ITB China 2024 returns, matching the exhibition’s 2019 scale.

ITB China 2024, from 27 to 29 May at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center, marks a pivotal moment for the global tourism community. Boasting +600 exhibitors, over 1,000 hand-selected buyers, the ITB China Conference running alongside the exhibition, and numerous networking opportunities, ITB China 2024 is set to be another landmark event. 

ITB China 2024 has surpassed the scale of 2019, signalling a robust recovery for the industry. With more than 600 travel and tourism organisations and companies from over 80 countries confirming their participation, this represents a remarkable 60% scale increase compared to the previous year, demonstrating the event’s growing success.

Lydia Li, Deputy General Manager of ITB China, said: “ITB China 2024 is a testament to the resurgence of China’s travel market. Despite ongoing challenges, the overwhelming participation of our exhibitors, buyers and trade visitors reflects renewed confidence in the industry. With strong partnerships and an unparalleled number of international exhibitors, including many newcomers, this year’s event marks the return to pre-pandemic levels in China.”

ITB China’s travel think tank, ITB China Conference, will offer content and insights tailored to address the information needs of exhibitors and visitors, providing an in-depth understanding of the Chinese and global tourism market. With a line-up of around 100 outstanding speakers covering some 50 thought-provoking topics, attendees can expect valuable discussions on industry hotspots and emerging trends and foster meaningful connections with industry key opinion leaders. 

Highlights include a round table conference co-hosted with the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE), focused on raising professionalism and international influence of China’s MICE industry. The conference will also feature a keynote address by Trip.com Group, the Travel Service Partner and content partner of the ITB China Travel Trend Report 2024/25, offering unique insights into emerging trends, Chinese traveller behaviour, and market opportunities. 

For more information about ITB China 2024, visit www.itbchina.com