Since March, measures taken to contain the Covid-19 pandemic have had an extremely severe impact on the professional meetings and events sector. However, the lack of clarity in the mid and long terms has plunged the whole industry into uncertainly with regard to the future. In order to provide those in the sector with tools that will enable them to plan ahead and to prepare for a resumption in business activity, Atout France launched a study in June in collaboration with the company EY.

The results shown below are based on a study carried out in , so the views expressed may have altered since then given the speed with which the situation is changing

With the support of Atout France’s offices in Germany, the UK and Belgium and thanks to their network of contacts, the study focused on a specifically targeted sample group of event organisers in these three countries: namely, events agencies, conference organisers and large companies. The study will be continued during the first and second halves of 2021 in order to update projections and results and to better anticipate the challenges faced by the industry as a whole.

46% of events postponed dating ideas in Dallas, adapted or held Firstly, the study reveals the impressive speed with which those in the sector have been able to react to the global situation. As a result, 46% of events planned in the spring were saved: some were either postponed or adapted, while others went ahead as planned. Since the start of the crisis, the number of digital events increased significantly but were gradually replaced, whenever this was possible, by hybrid events. The latter enabled networks to be maintained and consolidated in a more normal, albeit distance-based, face-to-face way, expanding meeting options while at the same time reducing health risks and the impact on the environment.

Differences in business resumption forecasts With regard to the resumption of business activity, however, the study reveals significant differences of opinion: while large companies do not envisage a real upturn before the second half of 2021 (even later for seminars and trade shows), conference organisers and events agencies are looking at a recovery at some stage during the first quarter of 2021, particularly for seminars, product launches and team-building activities. (more…)