Industry news
2020 was a remarkable year. Here in Dubai we started out partying away at one function after another and looking forward to huge events like Expo2020.
What started off as a fantastic year for our industry quickly turned into a year of one event cancellation after another. Constant uncertainty, lost revenue, and to put it bluntly, desperation were the main themes of March and April. Expo 2020 & Art Dubai were postponed, Music Bank was canceled along with K-Pop, Fashion Forward, and the list goes on and on and on...
And it shouldn’t be.
This last year has proven to be an exceptional learning experience for those of us in the event industry in Dubai. Now that things are starting to feel a little more normal, it is time to ask, where do we go from here? What will our industry look like post-COVID?
And those numbers are specific to the business event sector of the industry. They do not include the totals from events such as weddings, social parties, educational gatherings or conferences, consumer shows, political gatherings, concerts, or recreational events.
Here in Dubai, we in the industry were raking it in.
Since around 2013, the events sector had been growing exponentially at an estimated 25% per year. With hundreds of hotels and conference centers that serve as venues for an endless variety of events, Dubai quickly became one of the top tourist destinations in the world. The Dubai World Trade Center alone received over three and a half million event visitors in 2019. That same year, we hosted nearly 17 million visitors overall, being ranked the fourth most visited city in the world.
By the end of 2019, the tourism sector made up nearly 12% of the GDP. The government was hopeful for 2020. A target of 20 million visitors had been set. Events were booked, and things were off to a great start.
Alt tag: Global impact of COVID on the event industry
And then March happened.
We all remember how every couple of days the news grew more and more worrisome. By the end of the month, there were no flights in or out of the UAE and every event had been canceled or postponed.
You could hear the global event industry
stumbling all over itself in a skidding, confused, halt.
It is estimated that somewhere around 121 million jobs in the MICE sector were lost globally during this time. The hit to the global GDP is estimated to have been about 3,345 billion USD.
The thing is, it is impossible to know the extent of the damage because it is still happening. Even though 2020 is in the past, analysts are just now starting to understand the global consequences of the Covid pandemic on the event industries.
Thankfully, here in Dubai, the efforts to
contain the spread of Covid were swift, dramatic, intense, and mostly
successful. In only a few months, Dubai was tentatively opening its doors and
reopening its economy. By July, the city was allowing concerts and other select
events, as long as they followed the strict safety measures that we are all
familiar with by now.
But the impact of Covid in the industry was huge. Taking a look at economic statistics for the first quarter of 2020, we can see that the arts and entertainment sectors were down 10% while accommodations and food service were down nearly 15%.
Needless to say, our workforce took quite a
hit.
There are at
least 2,000 event companies that have been impacted by the measures taken
to combat Covid. This number does not
include the countless freelancers out there who make a living in the events
sector.
Considering that a single event can support up
to 450 jobs, a lot of people were left
without work.
The International Live Event Association
(ILEA) estimates that between Dhs 2.8 billion to Dhs 5.5 billion was lost in
the first three quarters of 2020. It is still too soon to know the extent of
the damage despite having lived through it.
It's no secret that events of all shapes and
sizes are buoyed by international tourism.
But despite our best efforts to reopen, the world around us has struggled to get control over the spread of Covid. International travel remains tightly restricted in many parts of the world.
●
Less than 50
countries currently allow for unrestricted air travel.
●
Another 50
countries are completely closed.
●
120+
countries have a mix of conditions and regulations permitting travel to and from
their country.
●
In the UK, it
is illegal to travel abroad for a holiday.
●
Travel to and
from India is severely restricted and mostly limited to matters of
repatriation.
●
Travel
between the UAE and Saudia Arabia is extremely limited until at least the end of May 2021.
●
Creating the Dubai Assured stamp to verify a venue’s
compliance with covid safety guidelines.
●
Implementing
a broad vaccination campaign that allows
everyone ages 16 and up to be vaccinated for free
Looking at the philosophical side of things, it is safe to say that we have learned that we are not invincible. This whole experience has served as a startling reality check to the industry.
Becoming more resilient as an industry will
require us to evolve and change in ways that may make us uncomfortable. A
serious paradigm shift is in store. Even though we may be able to get back to
what we once considered normal, we must accept that the event industry will never be the same again.
Event planners had to do some quick thinking
on their feet in this last year.
One of the major changes that we immediately
saw in the industry was a shift to virtual events.
It was almost as if planners were pulling some
magical sleight of hand and saving one event after another from outright
cancellation by putting it online. So we ask, are virtual events here to stay?
Honestly, it's hard (and kind of depressing) to imagine a future without in-person concerts, sporting events, comedy shows, art exhibitions, parties, or leisurely gatherings.
But if you ask a scientist or business
professional, they are more than happy to attend conference meetings,
presentations, and panel discussions in a virtual format.
Going online is attractive for many reasons.
●
Increased
safety in regards to Covid exposure.
●
Decreased
costs, which is attractive to organizations suffering from limited budgets.
●
Can be
attended from anywhere in the world.
●
Allow for
increased attendance overall.
●
Have a lower
carbon footprint.
●
Lowers the
costs for attendees.
●
Attractive to
corporate sponsors.
●
Issues of
conflicting time zones and convenient scheduling.
● Susceptible to technical difficulties and platform failures.
Considering all of that, about 96% of event planners still firmly believe that in-person events will continue to be the norm according to the DWTC. Interestingly though, only around 50% of those same event planners are currently in the planning phase of new in-person projects.
It is undeniable that in-person events provide
certain benefits that are nearly impossible to replicate with a virtual event.
There is something magical about bringing people together and fostering that
human connection.
In-person conferences and events can't be
beaten when it comes to creating networking opportunities, inspiring and
stimulating new ideas and innovations, showcasing infrastructure and products,
and building bridges between companies, communities, and even countries.
Attendees at events enjoy a captivating and focused experience in a new and
stimulating environment.
Event planners overwhelmingly prefer in-person
functions, for obvious reasons. Interestingly though, nearly 70% admit that they are not quite ready
to attend one themselves.
One of the ways to ¨speed up¨ and facilitate a return to in-person events is to hybridize them. If this pandemic has shown us anything, it is that many inefficiencies in the event world can be corrected through incorporating the latest technology into our event spaces. We can create a safer and more streamlined experience for our guests and attendees.
Creating virtual options for ticketing, registration and check-in are obvious solutions to avoiding lines and conglomerations of people. We should also consider creating cashless and no-contact payment systems for events with vendors and marketplaces.
Virtual components of an event can also be organized, allowing people to virtually attend seminars and presentations. This will limit the number of people physically present while allowing an organizer to boost overall attendance.
While time will tell how events evolve to incorporate advances in technology, one thing is certain: all in-person events of the near future will be bound to certain biosecurity protocols.
It is unknown when we will be able to circulate freely without masks or shake hands with a new acquaintance. But until then, our events will be marked by these all too familiar measures designed to keep us safe and limit our risk of exposure to the coronavirus.
Events of the future will incorporate social distancing protocols whether it be in the seating floor plan, queue areas, stage layouts, and general capacity.
Sanitation measures such as frequent disinfection and the availability of hand sanitizers, masks, gloves, and other personal protective gear for attendees will now have to be considered by the event organizers.
The safety protocols for in-person events as laid out by the DWTC are typical of the safety measures that every event planner will need to keep in mind as they plan their events.
To become more resilient as an industry, we have to build a culture of cooperation and transparency.
We argue that now is the time to forge alliances throughout our sector and support one another as we all strive to stay afloat. Flexibility, solidarity, and collaboration should become the foundations of our business models as we navigate through uncertain times.
There are a lot of hurdles to overcome before we can confidently state that things are ¨normal¨ again. But the good news is that people want to travel. They want to go to parties. They want to see live music and gather with friends.
By learning from our recent experiences, looking to the future with an eye towards innovation, and a spirit of solidarity throughout the industry - we can come back stronger than ever.
Those of us in the event industry will be leading the way back to our new normal.