Covid Recovery
UK events industry’s magical mystery ‘comeback tour’
Shaun Hinds, CEO of the UK-based Manchester Central Convention Complex, has announced the events sector is ‘on its comeback tour’, as new business enquiries remain strong month-on-month, peaking at their highest point in February since the sector reopened. Hinds stated: “Business events, tourism and culture are major drivers of cities, towns and villages right across the UK, and ...
Thailand eases inbound travel restrictions
Thailand’s ‘Test & Go’ entry rules have been eased, 1 April, in the country’s phased return to welcoming back international travellers. Fully vaccinated Thai citizens and foreign travellers from all countries/territories will no longer have to provide proof of a negative PCR Covid test taken 72 hours before arrival. The ‘Test & Go’ scheme still requires the following fives documents before...
FCM M&E predicts Australian bounce back, with corporate travel returning more slowly than leisure
International strategic event management agency, FCM Meetings and Events has released a White Paper – ‘Availability 2022 and beyond’ – anticipating a ‘busy year’ for the Australian MICE industry. With high vaccination rates (80.6% of Australia’s population is fully vaccinated), booster shots, borders open and reduced requirements for quarantine, the industry is looking forward to a strong re...
The coming events revival
Sven Bossu, CEO of AIPC, says live events are coming back because the global economy needs it The year of 2021 has seen us go through the cycle of hope, fear, and disappointment. Most recently, the high hopes continental Europe had for Q4 were crushed by the fourth Covid-wave, which will most likely also push back the projected 2022 business boom in the region. On the other hand, we see business b...
Time to stop waiting for Covid to go?
Padraic Gilligan (pictured), chief marketing officer, SITE & SITE Foundation, notes: ‘We’re living with Covid, working with it, working around it, working through it. Clients need to meet, to deliver their incentive travel programmes, to stage their events’ I don’t think anyone, even the late, great Nostradamus, would have predicted a year ago that 12 months hence we’d be marking another Chris...
Australia welcomes the return of in-person events in ‘rebound year’ 2022
Australia-based global business travel management company FCM Meetings & Events says it is set for a rebound year in 2022 with more than 90% of its business bookings coming from corporates wanting an in-person experience. Based on preliminary booking data for 2022, FCM Meetings & Events says it will be managing a corporate occasion every three days, with business confidence beginning to fl...
Number of events in London increase 231% month-on-month
New data has revealed that the number of events in London, UK is increasing exponentially. The data has been released by London & Partners’ meetings and events benchmarking partner, Venue Performance, and shows London venues increased the number of events they ran by 231% in September 2021, compared with August 2021. London hosted an average of 12.6 events per venue in September 2021,&nbs...
Vilnius secures 20 new conferences in pandemic recovery
Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, has secured 20 upcoming science and business conferences from sectors including biotech, law, medicine, IT, sports and social sciences. These conferences will take place between 2022 and 2025 and are expected to have an economic value of over €6m (US$6.95m). The Go Vilnius Convention Bureau has worked with the city’s academics and industry professionals to sustai...
Research from Tourism Australia suggests optimism over industry’s future
Tourism Australia has released the Business Events Consumer Demand Project (CDP), 19 August, which indicates that despite the ongoing challenges of Covid-19, association and incentive decision makers are optimistic about the industry’s future. The CDP research surveyed 163 decision makers from the association sector and 354 from the incentive sector in 11 of Australia’s key markets aimed to better...
BECA requests targeted support for Australian events industry
Representatives of the Business Events Council of Australia (BECA) met, 16 August, online with the Hon Dan Tehan MP, minister for trade, tourism and investment to request targeted support for businesses reliant upon income from business events. Geoff Donaghy (pictured), BECA deputy chair and CEO of ICC Sydney, stated: “Survival of the complete visitor and events supply chain is our number one prio...