Executive PA Australasia October November 2016 | Page 59

EAs control sizeable part
of meetings market
New research by Executive PA Magazine and MyTravelResearch.com
shows the MICE market isn’t meeting the needs of busy EAs
EXPERIENTIAL
In 2014 BECA 1 reported that there were
more than 300,000 corporate meetings and
events in Australia. The overall value of the
meetings and events market is more than
$23 billion. Around three quarters of these
are corporate meetings and events.
If evidence from a study conducted by market
research organisation MyTravelResearch.com
in partnership with Executive PA Magazine and
Luxperience is anything to go by, then EAs are
making a major contribution to that.
Preliminary estimates from the study
indicate that EAs command an average
budget for meetings and events of around
$188,000. Eight per cent of EAs command
budgets for meetings in excess of $500,000.
Yet EAs often feel that the MICE industry
fails to meet their needs. The research
conducted by MyTravelResearch.com
uncovered a consistent set of issues to do with
flexibility, accurate pricing and knowledge
management in meeting the needs of those
who plan and organise corporate meetings.
The good news is that the research, which
also included dedicated meeting planners,
shows that EAs have exactly the same needs
as these full time meeting planners. So
those assisting them don’t need to do things
radically differently.
But EAs have an added layer of
complication. “This is just a part of their
job – albeit a very enjoyable one,” says MTR
Co-founder Carolyn Childs. “So the need
for agile, seamless organisation is even
greater. Just making sure that a busy EA
doesn’t have to re-iterate every element of
his or her brief when the event transitions
from the venue’s sales to operations team.
Venues need to remember that in talking to
the EA you are talking to the C-suite of that
company and behave accordingly.”
We’ve also found that many meeting
planners feel the industry lacks innovation
or originality when proposing event
solutions. Many stick to the same format
they have been offering for years. These
cookie cutter solutions no longer meet the
needs of meeting and event planners who
are looking for something special. It was this
feedback that led Luxperience to introduce
the new personalised sessions for attendees
during its annual event. These sessions were
designed to educate both meeting planners
and suppliers on new ways to incorporate
ideas around wellness in the workplace,
advanced communications technology, and
emerging social media strategies like 360
video or Gif photo booths into their events.
Social media expert Annabelle Smith, who
hosted one of the seminars at Luxperience,
believes meetings and event planners need
to look beyond the life of their function
to have the greatest impact. Attendees
should be given every opportunity and
encouragement to share their experience
at the event, creating a wider audience and
extending the engagement beyond the life
of the event.
“It’s important to create a rich offline
experience that consumers want to capture
and share with their friends,” Annabelle
says. “Consumers love to see or play with
something novel at events so I expect we
will see more and more creative ways of
engaging guests and inspiring them to
create and share content.
“When your brand is everywhere on the
social media feeds of your target audience,
those at home will be wishing they could
have attended. And that means they will be
the first to sign up for the next event.”
The research will be published at the
Luxperience conference in Sydney between
the 19th and 21st September. Readers of
Executive PA who participated will receive
a benchmarking report to thank them for
their participation. E
1 Value of Business Events in Australia – BECA 2014. Conducted for BECA by Ernst and Young
About the author
Michelle Papas is director of marketing and buyer relations Michelle
Papa is director of marketing and buyer relations for Luxperience,
which took place place in Sydney from the 17th to the 20th October.
INFO
www.luxperience.com.au
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