Kerrin MacPhie, chief executive of the Meetings Industry Association (mia), says 2022 is a year of huge opportunity for our great industry.
Throughout the pandemic the business meetings and events sector has been both resilient and agile beyond belief. How we have managed to stop, adapt and then restart has been a real credit to the tenacity and determination of our highly professional sector.
When you press pause, it takes months for our sector to recover and get back to where we were. Yet, time and time again we have shown that we can, and will, continue to adapt, regardless of what happens in the wider world. Whether that’s by utilising the latest technology or adapting and implementing new safety protocols – we will still deliver high quality business meetings and events.
While we can’t ignore that there will be a long tail to Covid-19, which will still have an impact
on operations, with the lifting of the Plan B restrictions we are already witnessing optimism and engagement.
Sentiment is certainly changing and, as we’ve seen cited in various consumer perception surveys, we’ve already seen some great green shoots and are getting back to doing business – and doing business very well.
Our mia members have been widely reporting that they’re witnessing a shift in momentum, they feel the tide is really beginning to turn. We know that the business that was booked for later in the year (before the Omicron variant became prevalent) is also still there.
Many venues are being approached by multiple event planners wanting to switch from virtual to live events in March, April, May and June – months that were already popular with those who were avoiding the Plan B restrictions. Other planners, who held provisional bookings for the first half of the year, are also now confirming them.
One member has reported that they secured £2m worth of contracts in the three days after the Plan B restrictions lifted and are seeing enquiries increasing 20% week-on-week as demand mounts, which is really positive news.
However, what we have got to do is continue to preach the confidence message and demonstrate far and wide that it is safe to attend professional business meetings and events and our AIM Secure accreditation has a key role to play in that.
AIM Secure ensures that those venues who have achieved the enhanced quality standard have 24 very specific health and safety protocols in place – helping to provide that much needed reassurance to nervous bookers.
The importance and value of AIM Secure in assisting our recovery is huge. As a result, continuing to raise awareness and growing the number of venues who have successfully achieved AIM Secure is a huge priority for the mia over the coming months. We’re already having discussions with destinations to make their bureaux members AIM Secure – so event planners will then be able to easily book an AIM Secure destination.
Similarly, we are also busily working behind the scenes on AIM Small Venues – an accreditation that is still focused on health, safety and quality – but has been specifically designed for smaller business meeting and events spaces as they, of course, have very different needs to those with larger premises.
But we can’t do it all alone. To further boost confidence, we would like to see our sector being proactively supported by government messaging. Messaging that literally spells out and encourages people to go and meet. What we are calling for is a sector-specific message that actually references our industry as many don’t immediately think of business events when it is encapsulated into the broader hospitality term.
I will be using my regular meetings and ongoing dialogue with the government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, as well as my role on the recently reformed Event Industry Board and my position on the Business Events Recovery Group, to champion that point as well
as many others for the benefit of our sector.
Later this year we are hosting some major events, such as the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, which will shine a global spotlight on the UK and all of its greatness.
Now is the time to harness the opportunity of our great events offering across our unique nations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It’s an opportunity to do things differently and take a fresh approach.
Through the stages and platforms that we expertly create in our diverse range of quality destinations and venues, we can firmly reignite the spotlight on the UK and our ability to showcase creativity and innovation.
Let’s not go back to how things were previously done but instead take a fresh, creative and collaborative approach as we look to the future. Together, we can make the UK the world meetings place for international business meetings and events.
