Is the German events industry on the road to recovery ?
CMW TALKS WITH MULTIPLE INDUSTRY LEADERS WITHIN THE GERMAN EVENTS SECTOR TO GET A FINGER ON THE PULSE OF THE COUNTRY ’ S RE-OPENING
A s nations across Europe are taking steps to reduce Covid-19 restrictions in response to increasing evidence that omicron causes less severe disease than previous variants of the virus , Germany has been slow to follow suit .
According to the Covid-19 Stringency Index , a composite measure based on nine restriction indicators , Germany is one of the top 10 most restricted countries in Europe ( as per 18 April ), with an index rating of 33.33 . In comparison , European countries such as the UK and Portugal scored 12.96 and 17.59 respectively .
However , since the start of April , Germany has taken steps to lift the majority of its Covid-19 restrictions allowing for a , albeit delayed , reopening of the events industry . As restrictions are slowly lifted , CMW spoke to multiple German industry leaders to discuss how they believe the domestic and international events landscape is currently shaping up .
The best of both worlds Throughout the pandemic , event organisers were forced to adapt to the prolonged periods of uncertainty caused by public health restrictions .
“ People still have an enormous need for personal meetings and authentic , emotional experiences ”
Matthias Schultze
Matthias Schultze , managing director of the German Convention Bureau ( GCB ), tells CMW : “ Looking at the German events market , we have witnessed tremendous structural change in the past two years in quantity and quality . Of all event types , business events in particular experienced a strong shift towards digital and hybrid formats .”
Heike Mahmoud , chief operating officer of the CCH – Congress Center Hamburg , agrees , saying : “ The German and the international congress and business events industry has used the pandemic period to develop a wide range of digital options for running events with active participant involvement .
“ The emphasis is on enhancing the congress and event experience while creating new opportunities for transferring know-how and for networking – with a global reach .
“ Participants will be able to dial in from any place worldwide to be part of an event . This is an advantage for congress and event organisers as they
16 / CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD / ISSUE 118