THE RULE OF LAW
With the ongoing cost of living crisis impacting the recovery of the business meetings and events sector , Kerrin MacPhie , chief executive , Meetings Industry Association ( mia ), discusses the latest insights and support being offered to members .
n the wake of the global pandemic that shut down our industry , recovery has been the goal for business meetings and events operators . Over the past 12 months , almost every operator ’ s business strategy , objectives and plans have been laser-focused on recouping heavy losses and creating a viable future .
Whilst the sector has been recovering at an anticipated pace , the mia is very aware that the once daily concerns that have become prevalent in recent years , are rife once more .
It ’ s no surprise that the findings from our most recent industry survey revealed that the global energy crisis is heavily impacting our sector . On average , operating costs have increased by almost a third .
However , it ’ s not just soaring energy prices that have seen record increases . Independently , members are reporting that rising inflation is causing extraordinary increases to other areas such as food and beverage . One of our large conference venues in London is reporting year-on-year price increases that have seen grains and feed up about 50 %, meat and poultry up 9 %, seafood up 40 % and beverages up by 19 %.
To try and combat this , over three-quarters of respondents have had to increase prices in the form of DDR or room rates , catering or AV provisions . However , remaining competitive in a price-sensitive sector , has led many to concede to heavily reduced profits – creating a further setback to recovery plans .
There ’ s no doubt that the package of support offered by government in September provided operators some much-needed short-term relief . Yet , as we stated in our reaction when this was first announced , without a long-term solution it is vital that we continue to call on government for these support packages to be reviewed on an ongoing basis . In addition , we as a sector must unify our use of Standard Industrial Classification ( SIC ) codes to ensure we are captured in any sector-specific support determined by government .
Our industry efforts Despite internal movements within government and the appointment of Stuart Andrew as our new Minister for Tourism , we continue to strengthen our relationship with the Department for Digital , Media , Culture and Sport .
We remain in regular contact providing insight and calling for longer-term solutions to ease the challenges that also include staffing shortages , which are affecting over three-quarters of the sector with almost nine out of 10 organisations currently listing staff vacancies .
We also continue to collaborate and work with the likes of VisitBritain and BVEP – the umbrella organisation representing leading trade and professional organisations , government agencies and other significant www . conference-news . co . uk