he events landscape is in a constant state of flux , with new formats , technologies , businesses and trends impacting what ’ s hot among organisers . Seeing how you stack up against the competition is imperative to continuous development of an events strategy .

Cvent ’ s 2022 Q1 Planner Sourcing Report : Europe Edition picked the brains of several hundred events organisers and venues from across Europe , finding out the biggest challenges and opportunities from across the industry .

I spoke with Karla Pearce , director of marketing for Europe , Cvent Hospitality Cloud , to find out more about the report , as well as what ’ s next for organisers and venues .

Challenge accepted

It ’ s been a rough two years for many events folks . The challenges presented to organisers have evolved , with the rise of the virtual event space and the impact of Covid-19 being key catalysts for technology adoption by organisers . The report by Cvent reflected

Karla Pearce

this , with the top two concerns for organisers being travel restrictions and new Covid-19 variants , closely followed by lack of staff and attendee confidence . Pearce highlighted the staffing challenge as one which resonated with both organisers and venues – with both parties talking about “ how difficult it is to have the right amount of people in place . This is due to the demand that venues are seeing for meetings and events .”

One thing that ’ s not a concern for many is budget , with only 13 % of planners having seen a reduction in available funds . For many , budgets have in fact increased , with 57 % of UK buyers having more budget . With more available , venues must up the standards to attract the buying power many organisers now possess , according to Cvent .

Chris McAndrews , vice president

“ The technology that helps to get to that event is equally as important as the planning itself .”

of marketing for Cvent , said : “ The hotels and venues that can successfully showcase their properties and hybrid-ready meeting space in the digital environment , will bolster their appeal and attract more MICE business in 2022 .”

Tech progress

The need for venues to leverage emerging technologies is a theme throughout the report , with organisers stating a desire for more integration of technologies throughout the planning process for events .

Technologies like interactive event space diagrams and virtual site tours scored highly on the needs for organisers when initially