For And Against Concepts In The Meeting And Convention Industry

With the recent globalization of businesses, more efficient means of transportation, stability in international relations, emerging event destinations, construction of bigger hotels and world standard event centers with unique locations and facilities, the meeting and convention industry is experiencing more growth than ever before. However, despite its positive economic and non-economic impacts, its existence is threatened by safety and security concerns, need for environmental sustainability, instability in global economy, unethical competition tactics, government policies and growing number of destinations hostile to visitors. Destinations must therefore weigh its pros and cons and determine the steps to effective management and how to balance the use of technology or altogether, not invest in the industry. “The meeting industry continues to thrive while experiencing fastest growth in the tourism sector”. Which is without doubt because of the economic and non-economic benefits of the industry. Other factors that have influenced this growth include positive government policies like being visa friendly, imposing little or no tax on visitors and aligning other policies with the tourism policy. Countries such as Australia, Japan, the Ireland and the US are a few of the countries who are visa friendly and this is done to encourage foreign visits. Also, little or no tax policies in regions like Hong Kong has played a role in encouraging event organizers to choose them as an ideal destination.

In 2013, Lockstone 2013 pointed out that the event industry has experienced exponential growth in previous decades and this was reiterated by a survey conducted by ICCA in 2013 spanning from 20003-2013 which showed a cumulative growth of 2. 87 in Oceania, 6. 76 in Africa, 8. 67 in Latin America, 3. 35 in North America, 9. 39 in Asia/Middle East and 6. 00 in Europe. And just in the US, this growth is estimated according to the US department of labor to rise to 30% by 2020 Barbara 2015. This is parallel to the growth in other related industries such as transportation, food and beverage, and accommodation. Countries like Korea, the US, Israel and Canada have initiated the process while specifically pointing out that Canada’s “blue skies” agreement with 80 countries will help facilitate movement between all the countries they are in the agreement with. A few of the progress in expansion and sharing-economy of transportation and accommodation sectors where highlighted by the business traveler including, sustenance of airline sharing economy platforms like the Star Alliance, China Airlines’ partnership with KLM to allow passengers a choice of 11 times weekly services, increase in Airbnb’s accommodation capacity around the globe, Hyatt Regency adding 222 guestrooms to their property to make them the largest luxury full service hotel in Australia, Wanda hotels and resorts’ having a meeting facility of 1, 100 SQM function space and numerous other Airlines and Accommodation businesses which have added a feather to their cap. The implication of this efficiency is that more destinations are investing in their tourism sector, especially the MICE sector. In 2017, HKTB designed a policy that will promote the region as a choice international events destination for the year 2018. With a budget showing that the MICE sector is allocated the highest amount at HKD115. 8m, they host festivals, sports competitions and cultural activities in addition to supporting events hosted by other groups in Hong Kong as a way of demonstrating Hong Kong’s active lifestyle, cross-cultural acceptance and willingness to work with associations Hong Kong tourism bureau.

In consistence with this view, the industry gained new attention considering that emerging destinations and countries in need of new methods to diversify their economy are creating ways to compete for the market share in Europe, North America and the world at large. The 55th ICCA congress of 2016 hosted in Malaysia exemplified emerging convention bureau strategies to partner with government and non-government agencies. They did this through awarding scholarships to young local executives and aspiring members in the industry and used it to demonstrate to the association that they intend to grow future leaders in the industry. Some other authors have identified several actions taken by CVB’s and event organizers to maintain steady growth and they are; initiatives to inculcate cross professional network intentions to facilitate networking among attendees, selling creative value filled contents to target markets through social media, an increase in wellness sessions during an event which helps to increase participants anticipation of the event, Victoria 2017 a rise in nontraditional venues with an example drawn from Indianapolis and destinations incorporating local contents where visiting delegates get to enjoy the unique characteristics of the destination index.

Additionally, increase in the number of key industry associations, growth in academic and professional research in the industry as observed in a statistical analysis by Draper 2018 over a period of 12 years, efficiency in sharing economy and improvement in infrastructures, advancement in construction materials that can aid faster construction of event centers and production of a real life Google language translation Russell 2018, are part of indicators that the growth the industry is currently experiencing will be sustained. Lockstore summarized these processes by pointing out the need for all sectors in events to continuously evolve in other to adequately combat the challenges in the industry.

Despite the obvious possibilities in the growth of the industry, factors affecting the general tourism sector are mounting but particularly to the business event industry, the factor that will change the way we view it today is “advanced technology”. Other things that will deter its growth are, security and environmental concerns, economic and political uncertainties, epidemic diseases, unfavorable government policies, limited land area, proximity, the time and financial burden involved in planning an event and human resource shortage or inadequate training. I consider these catalysts to an eventual partial or total adoption of technology as a means of hosting events. In agreement to this view, through an interview session with four futuristic authors, Christopher Dusor concluded that the innovation of new technologies is inconsequential to the social need of meeting together, however, challenges in security and environment sustainability, the energy and money required to plan and travel for an event might gradually force organizers and delegates to incline towards virtual realities. Some schools of thoughts believe that trying to depend on advanced technology will be detrimental to most of the contributions made by the event businesses. Lynn Trevor through an interview with Barbara 2015 emphasized that technological revolution points to an impending extinction of the one on one interactive event and with software’s designed to create a perfect environment for online meetings and conventions, personalized information for attendees to keep them glued to the event and a technique of self-sponsorship which leaves the delegates hoping for a return on their investment, it will not be long before a full force adoption of hybrid methods happen.

It is important to note that institutions and event organizers are currently combining hybrid platforms with face to face events. As pointed out by Jaime there is a wide use of hybrids by companies, organizations, NGO’s, associations, pharmaceuticals and tech companies and an increasing percentage of organizer are hopeful that up to 10% of events will be hybrid by 2018. When we consider unfavorable government policies and happenings in the world political arena, one can almost predict its outcome on the industry. in 2017, The US President issued an executive order banning travelers from 8 Muslim countries sequel to which he directed that electronic devices where not to be carried onboard. Durso September while examining the implication of the ban narrated the effect it had on a convention scheduled by the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology in the US. The study showed that there was a 9% decline in the number of attendees and an overall of 34% organizations in the US blamed the decline in attendance of their conventions on the ban.

Tourism is one of the major contributors to environmental pollution. From chains of hotels accommodating travelers around the globe, to busy skies, to draught resulting from excessive water wastage, to name but a few. Oecd 2014 noted that by 2035, the level of greenhouse emission just from air travel would have gone up by 135%. Another example cited by Harvey is the recent water pollution in Indonesia’s famous tourist destination. The World Tourism Organization 2014 went ahead to specify that the impact resulting from this effect will certainly influence destinations long-term sustainability and when we consider that business travel is listed as the biggest sector in tourism, the implication will not be farfetched. Oxford, in a study of several African countries, disclosed that the major factor plaguing tourism in the continent is security concerns. This concern has continued to grow and crises such as the September 9, 2011 in the US, the declaration by terrorist groups such as ISIS and Boko Haram to be identified as caliphates and terrorist attack targeted at large gatherings has continued to question the sustainability of the event businesses. These are just a few of the difficulties the industry is facing. This implies that, if these concerns persist, more and more associations might opt for hybrid events in the future. Haven detailed on the industries growth features, I will use the paragraphs below to show how various countries around the globe have benefited from the industry both economically and non-economically. Morgan2007 explained economic impact to mean the activities of an organization which results in the change to the economic situation of an immediate environment. In Bill McDermott’s words (CEO of SAP) “the industry is at the forefront of driving growth in the global economy. There is no doubt that great things happen for companies and economies when people come together face to face.

A few of the events that bring about a single high economic impact to destinations include, conventions hosted my international associations in Medicine, Technology, the Sciences, Engineering Victoria, international sports competitions (the Olympics, World cups). An example is the 2002 FIFA cup which contributed USD307m to South Korea’s economy. Imex gave an overall benefit to a few destinations including; contributing USD5bn in economy and 1. 8m employment opportunities in the USA, USD39bn in economy and 530, 000 in employment for the UK, USD2bn in economy and 23, 000 employments in Australia, USD28bn in economy and 200, 000 employment opportunities. This is why imex stressed that dependence on virtual reality is a huge threat to these contributions. Other positive impacts of the sector are; regional and national coverage in the media which in most cases attracts new visitors and businesses to the destination and creating an enabling environment for networking and sharing of new ideas among countries. The data above indicates huge benefits for destinations, raking in both financial and social benefits but destinations must be aware of the influence of several uncertainties and the result of more destinations investing in the sector. In 1997, there was an economic crisis in Asia which lead to the collapse of many businesses Wikipedia. Also, in 2009, a global economic crisis lead to a decline in tourist flow and business travel was affected the most.

Current, trade war between the US and China, the outcome of Brexit on the UK are some of the economic and political factors with negative impact on conventions and meeting. In the early 1990’s, Morgan noted the boom in the industry which eventually lead to the construction of more centers and ultimately lead to more competitors and a decrease in the price charged by destinations for hosting events. He further pointed out that hosting events in very popular destinations might not necessarily account for additional income as the money will only be ‘transferred’ from one part of the economy (leisure) to another part (events). If for instance an event is to be hosted in Paris, delegates who would have ordinarily visited Paris as tourists will cease the opportunity of the event and will not inject new money into the destination’s economy. Other factors he mentioned were; disruption of resident’s lifestyle, traffic congestions, cultural interferences and social instability. Oecd 2014 also added that investing in big centers in most cases lead to infrastructural redundancy and this will become a huge economic waste for the destination in the long run. Unhealthy industry tactics popular in Asia can also lead to less probability of emerging destinations hosting international events even when they have invested in infrastructure and human resources. Hktb noted that part of their strategy to maintain its standards as an international destination is to give financial gifts to organizers. This new method will reduce the chances of other destinations hosting these events.

In conclusion, the industry must take a stand on the approach and strategies to sustainability by leveraging on its ability to manage these events and reducing negative impacts on the environment and the society. Also, it is important that they find a balance with technology so as to utilize its benefits and draw a line against it demerits on the industry.

With the recent globalization of businesses, more efficient means of transportation, stability in international relations, emerging event destinations, construction of bigger hotels and world standard event centers with unique locations and facilities, the meeting and convention industry is experiencing more growth than ever before. However, despite its positive economic and non-economic impacts, its existence is threatened by safety and security concerns, need for environmental sustainability, instability in global economy, unethical competition tactics, government policies and growing number of destinations hostile to visitors. Destinations must therefore weigh its pros and cons and determine the steps to effective management and how to balance the use of technology or altogether, not invest in the industry. “The meeting industry continues to thrive while experiencing fastest growth in the tourism sector”. Which is without doubt because of the economic and non-economic benefits of the industry. Other factors that have influenced this growth include positive government policies like being visa friendly, imposing little or no tax on visitors and aligning other policies with the tourism policy. Countries such as Australia, Japan, the Ireland and the US are a few of the countries who are visa friendly and this is done to encourage foreign visits. Also, little or no tax policies in regions like Hong Kong has played a role in encouraging event organizers to choose them as an ideal destination.

In 2013, Lockstone 2013 pointed out that the event industry has experienced exponential growth in previous decades and this was reiterated by a survey conducted by ICCA in 2013 spanning from 20003-2013 which showed a cumulative growth of 2. 87 in Oceania, 6. 76 in Africa, 8. 67 in Latin America, 3. 35 in North America, 9. 39 in Asia/Middle East and 6. 00 in Europe. And just in the US, this growth is estimated according to the US department of labor to rise to 30% by 2020 Barbara 2015. This is parallel to the growth in other related industries such as transportation, food and beverage, and accommodation. Countries like Korea, the US, Israel and Canada have initiated the process while specifically pointing out that Canada’s “blue skies” agreement with 80 countries will help facilitate movement between all the countries they are in the agreement with. A few of the progress in expansion and sharing-economy of transportation and accommodation sectors where highlighted by the business traveler including, sustenance of airline sharing economy platforms like the Star Alliance, China Airlines’ partnership with KLM to allow passengers a choice of 11 times weekly services, increase in Airbnb’s accommodation capacity around the globe, Hyatt Regency adding 222 guestrooms to their property to make them the largest luxury full service hotel in Australia, Wanda hotels and resorts’ having a meeting facility of 1, 100 SQM function space and numerous other Airlines and Accommodation businesses which have added a feather to their cap. The implication of this efficiency is that more destinations are investing in their tourism sector, especially the MICE sector. In 2017, HKTB designed a policy that will promote the region as a choice international events destination for the year 2018. With a budget showing that the MICE sector is allocated the highest amount at HKD115. 8m, they host festivals, sports competitions and cultural activities in addition to supporting events hosted by other groups in Hong Kong as a way of demonstrating Hong Kong’s active lifestyle, cross-cultural acceptance and willingness to work with associations Hong Kong tourism bureau.

In consistence with this view, the industry gained new attention considering that emerging destinations and countries in need of new methods to diversify their economy are creating ways to compete for the market share in Europe, North America and the world at large. The 55th ICCA congress of 2016 hosted in Malaysia exemplified emerging convention bureau strategies to partner with government and non-government agencies. They did this through awarding scholarships to young local executives and aspiring members in the industry and used it to demonstrate to the association that they intend to grow future leaders in the industry. Some other authors have identified several actions taken by CVB’s and event organizers to maintain steady growth and they are; initiatives to inculcate cross professional network intentions to facilitate networking among attendees, selling creative value filled contents to target markets through social media, an increase in wellness sessions during an event which helps to increase participants anticipation of the event, Victoria 2017 a rise in nontraditional venues with an example drawn from Indianapolis and destinations incorporating local contents where visiting delegates get to enjoy the unique characteristics of the destination index.

Additionally, increase in the number of key industry associations, growth in academic and professional research in the industry as observed in a statistical analysis by Draper 2018 over a period of 12 years, efficiency in sharing economy and improvement in infrastructures, advancement in construction materials that can aid faster construction of event centers and production of a real life Google language translation Russell 2018, are part of indicators that the growth the industry is currently experiencing will be sustained. Lockstore summarized these processes by pointing out the need for all sectors in events to continuously evolve in other to adequately combat the challenges in the industry.

Despite the obvious possibilities in the growth of the industry, factors affecting the general tourism sector are mounting but particularly to the business event industry, the factor that will change the way we view it today is “advanced technology”. Other things that will deter its growth are, security and environmental concerns, economic and political uncertainties, epidemic diseases, unfavorable government policies, limited land area, proximity, the time and financial burden involved in planning an event and human resource shortage or inadequate training. I consider these catalysts to an eventual partial or total adoption of technology as a means of hosting events. In agreement to this view, through an interview session with four futuristic authors, Christopher Dusor concluded that the innovation of new technologies is inconsequential to the social need of meeting together, however, challenges in security and environment sustainability, the energy and money required to plan and travel for an event might gradually force organizers and delegates to incline towards virtual realities. Some schools of thoughts believe that trying to depend on advanced technology will be detrimental to most of the contributions made by the event businesses. Lynn Trevor through an interview with Barbara 2015 emphasized that technological revolution points to an impending extinction of the one on one interactive event and with software’s designed to create a perfect environment for online meetings and conventions, personalized information for attendees to keep them glued to the event and a technique of self-sponsorship which leaves the delegates hoping for a return on their investment, it will not be long before a full force adoption of hybrid methods happen.

It is important to note that institutions and event organizers are currently combining hybrid platforms with face to face events. As pointed out by Jaime there is a wide use of hybrids by companies, organizations, NGO’s, associations, pharmaceuticals and tech companies and an increasing percentage of organizer are hopeful that up to 10% of events will be hybrid by 2018. When we consider unfavorable government policies and happenings in the world political arena, one can almost predict its outcome on the industry. in 2017, The US President issued an executive order banning travelers from 8 Muslim countries sequel to which he directed that electronic devices where not to be carried onboard. Durso September while examining the implication of the ban narrated the effect it had on a convention scheduled by the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology in the US. The study showed that there was a 9% decline in the number of attendees and an overall of 34% organizations in the US blamed the decline in attendance of their conventions on the ban.

Tourism is one of the major contributors to environmental pollution. From chains of hotels accommodating travelers around the globe, to busy skies, to draught resulting from excessive water wastage, to name but a few. Oecd 2014 noted that by 2035, the level of greenhouse emission just from air travel would have gone up by 135%. Another example cited by Harvey is the recent water pollution in Indonesia’s famous tourist destination. The World Tourism Organization 2014 went ahead to specify that the impact resulting from this effect will certainly influence destinations long-term sustainability and when we consider that business travel is listed as the biggest sector in tourism, the implication will not be farfetched. Oxford, in a study of several African countries, disclosed that the major factor plaguing tourism in the continent is security concerns. This concern has continued to grow and crises such as the September 9, 2011 in the US, the declaration by terrorist groups such as ISIS and Boko Haram to be identified as caliphates and terrorist attack targeted at large gatherings has continued to question the sustainability of the event businesses. These are just a few of the difficulties the industry is facing. This implies that, if these concerns persist, more and more associations might opt for hybrid events in the future. Haven detailed on the industries growth features, I will use the paragraphs below to show how various countries around the globe have benefited from the industry both economically and non-economically. Morgan2007 explained economic impact to mean the activities of an organization which results in the change to the economic situation of an immediate environment. In Bill McDermott’s words (CEO of SAP) “the industry is at the forefront of driving growth in the global economy. There is no doubt that great things happen for companies and economies when people come together face to face.

A few of the events that bring about a single high economic impact to destinations include, conventions hosted my international associations in Medicine, Technology, the Sciences, Engineering Victoria, international sports competitions (the Olympics, World cups). An example is the 2002 FIFA cup which contributed USD307m to South Korea’s economy. Imex gave an overall benefit to a few destinations including; contributing USD5bn in economy and 1. 8m employment opportunities in the USA, USD39bn in economy and 530, 000 in employment for the UK, USD2bn in economy and 23, 000 employments in Australia, USD28bn in economy and 200, 000 employment opportunities. This is why imex stressed that dependence on virtual reality is a huge threat to these contributions. Other positive impacts of the sector are; regional and national coverage in the media which in most cases attracts new visitors and businesses to the destination and creating an enabling environment for networking and sharing of new ideas among countries. The data above indicates huge benefits for destinations, raking in both financial and social benefits but destinations must be aware of the influence of several uncertainties and the result of more destinations investing in the sector. In 1997, there was an economic crisis in Asia which lead to the collapse of many businesses Wikipedia. Also, in 2009, a global economic crisis lead to a decline in tourist flow and business travel was affected the most.

Current, trade war between the US and China, the outcome of Brexit on the UK are some of the economic and political factors with negative impact on conventions and meeting. In the early 1990’s, Morgan noted the boom in the industry which eventually lead to the construction of more centers and ultimately lead to more competitors and a decrease in the price charged by destinations for hosting events. He further pointed out that hosting events in very popular destinations might not necessarily account for additional income as the money will only be ‘transferred’ from one part of the economy (leisure) to another part (events). If for instance an event is to be hosted in Paris, delegates who would have ordinarily visited Paris as tourists will cease the opportunity of the event and will not inject new money into the destination’s economy. Other factors he mentioned were; disruption of resident’s lifestyle, traffic congestions, cultural interferences and social instability. Oecd 2014 also added that investing in big centers in most cases lead to infrastructural redundancy and this will become a huge economic waste for the destination in the long run. Unhealthy industry tactics popular in Asia can also lead to less probability of emerging destinations hosting international events even when they have invested in infrastructure and human resources. Hktb noted that part of their strategy to maintain its standards as an international destination is to give financial gifts to organizers. This new method will reduce the chances of other destinations hosting these events.

In conclusion, the industry must take a stand on the approach and strategies to sustainability by leveraging on its ability to manage these events and reducing negative impacts on the environment and the society. Also, it is important that they find a balance with technology so as to utilize its benefits and draw a line against it demerits on the industry.