WE DON ’ T KNOW WHAT WE WANT
Martin Fullard , editorial director , Conference News , says progress was made under the last tourism minister , but now the industry must define itself
ichelle Donelan MP has taken over as secretary of state for the Department of Digital , Culture , Media , and Sport ( DCMS ), which even by name is a bit of a mouthful . Henceforth , we shall refer to her as the culture secretary , and she is the 11th MP to hold the role in as many years . She has a big remit , too , overseeing everything from music rights and arts galleries to the internet and the BBC . Of course , buried deep within her Outlook is a folder most likely named ‘ events industry ’. Naturally , she can ’ t be on hand to go too far down that rabbit hole , so the job of looking after us falls to the tourism minister , a junior minister position within the DCMS .
Until very recently , this role was
“ The industry must identify itself first .. in part by using existing SIC codes , and it must then engage with trade bodies to establish what it wants .” occupied by Nigel Huddleston MP , who I have had the pleasure of speaking with and interviewing on a few occasions during the pandemic . He was previously head of travel at Google which included some healthy crossover into the worlds of meetings and events and , truth be told , he seemed pretty capable in his ministerial position . It ’ s a shame , then , that he has now been moved from this post to take up a new desk in the Whip ’ s office .
Minister Huddleston did understand the frustrations and plight of the events industry during the pandemic – he did – but the reason why the sector got no support is an issue that runs far deeper . “ You [ the industry ] need data to prove your value ,” he told me at the Meetings Industry Association ’ s annual conference in 2021 ( or words to that effect ). And he ’ s right , without data to back up our claims of £ 19bn value , we ’ re just shouting without context .
One thing that could go some way to fixing this is the SIC codes . These are maintained by
Martin Fullard
the Office for National Statistics and , if you ’ ve been following , will know could be reviewed in time . On the premise that every event business in the land adopts these codes on their tax returns , it would give the government a clearer understanding of what the industry is all about .
Say that happens , then what ? What do we want as an industry ? This is a painful question because , at present , there is no answer . Conferences and meetings are part of a wider ‘ business event ’ mix . Add in experiential and brand events , incentive travel , exhibitions and trade shows and it begins to get a little cloudy , even overwhelming .
The industry must identify itself first . This can be done in part by using existing SIC codes , and it must then engage with trade bodies to establish what it wants .
How can we call for support without knowing what support we actually need ? We made progress with Huddleston , and now we must start again with a new tourism minister . The right department ? Probably not , especially if you ’ re an exhibitions organiser , but when we don ’ t even know who we are ourselves , what else should we expect ?
Ask yourselves , where do you sit in the mix , and what do you need ? CN
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