HARNESSING THE OPPORTUNITY
Kerrin MacPhie , chief executive of the Meetings Industry Association ( mia ), says 2022 is a year of huge opportunity for our great industry
hroughout 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
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