TRENDS FEATURE
Catie Owen speaks to three industry powerhouses about the upcoming trends they expect for 2024
The beginning of a new year heralds the start of new resolutions and predictions for the months ahead . To get a sense of the trends we might see in 2024 , Matt Denton , president of dmg events ; Peter Hall , president , Middle East , Türkiye , India and Africa , Informa Markets ; and Hugh Jones , CEO , RX , have weighed in .
Staying green 80 % of Informa ’ s customers indicated that sustainability is a top priority , according to Hall , who notes that the organisation is seeing a correlation between the increase of the sustainability measures in their events and customer satisfaction .
For that reason , sustainability claims the top spot for Informa ’ s agenda in 2024 . As it stands , Informa goes into 2024 with more than 80 % of its events powered by renewable electricity .
The organisation also plans to remain a keen member of the Net Zero Carbon Events initiative , launched at COP26 in 2021 and will keep marching on with its ‘ Better Stands ’ exhibition stand recycling pilot .
RX ’ s Jones agrees that sustainability will take centre stage in 2024 , saying : “ The push for sustainability is no longer confined to a few sectors ; it ’ s a cross-industry imperative .”
Jones explains RX ’ s
The road ahead
Left to right : Matt Denton , dmg events ; Peter Hall , Informa Markets ; and Hugh Jones , RX
sustainability plan going into 2024 : “ We are working with our sectors across the business to help them with their sustainability missions and we have already seen phenomenal changes to the way our venues , events , teams , visitors and exhibitors are working .”
Denton from dmg makes a salient point that organisers might come up against – the priorities of clients : “ Sustainability is something ingrained into all of us now and it has a growing influence on our activities , but for our clients , the importance varies from region to region and market to market . The successful organiser appreciates all these criteria and balances
Spring — 31