ICE Annual Benchmarking Report reveals event organisers struggle to prioritise sustainability 

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The latest ICE Annual Benchmarking Research Report, produced in collaboration with Cvent, has revealed concerning trends amongst corporate event professionals regarding the adoption of sustainable event practices.

The report, based on survey responses from event planners in the UK, Germany, and the US, found that, despite cross industry emphasis on eco-friendly practices, corporate event creators are still struggling to incorporate sustainability into their planning process for events, 70.2% citing cost as the biggest barrier.

The ICE report also highlights a growing shift towards artificial intelligence (AI) adoption, with 41% of planners already integrating AI into their workflows.

32.4% of planners use technology to streamline logistics and planning, while 30% employ it for data analysis and insights. AI is also beginning to influence the personalisation of delegate experiences, with 22% of planners using it to tailor experiences to attendees’ needs.

Anita Howard, founder & CEO, ICE, said: “It’s not about starting the journey, it’s about having the time, budget and clear knowledge to progress it.”

On the topic of AI, Felicia Asiedu, Cvent marketing director for Europe, said: “The more we can personalise an attendee experience, the more engaging it is for individual audience members, which in turn leads to greater outcomes such as enjoyment, knowledge retention, beneficial networking and personal growth.  This is one of the most exciting opportunities for our sector, which we look forward to seeing develop over the months and years ahead.”

In addition to AI, event planners are increasingly relying on various event technologies, including platforms for event registration (used by 90.9% of respondents), hybrid event solutions (74.5%), and web-streaming (72.7%). Emerging technologies like ChatGPT (43.6%) and augmented reality (16.4%) are starting to make their mark, though their full potential has yet to be realised across the industry.

Howard added: “It’s clear that more needs to be done to provide planners with the resources and knowledge they need to make sustainability a standard practice, rather than an afterthought.”

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