Update 24 March: Planners and venues in the UK seem similarly confident of a
return to business by September, according to the Business Events Sentiment
Survey by specialist PR and brand communications agency Davies Tanner and the Business
Visits & Events Partnership (BVEP).
Of 556 business events professionals, 38 per cent stated September
as the primary month when they expect to see both enquiries and bookings begin
to increase, though 12 per cent believe this will happen as soon as July and 10
per cent in August. Thirteen per cent said it could be as late as October.
In terms of the long-term effects, half of respondents believe
the industry as a whole will not return to normality for at least 12 months,
with only 27 per cent saying this could be achieved in nine to 12 months.
On a more positive note, 39 per cent of those surveyed have
taken or made booking enquiries in the last month, including 15 per cent in
recent days. However, 61 per cent said bookings have stopped completely.
About 53 per cent of member planners surveyed this month by
meeting planner network i-Meet believe they will be ready to resume operating
face-to-face meetings and events by the end of September.
I-Meet, with more than 112,000 members, began conducting a weekly
poll at the beginning of April to create what it calls its Planner Confidence
Index. The most recent poll, with data through April 20, received more than 900
responses from planners throughout the world. The largest portion, about 31 per
cent, believe meetings will resume by August or September, with an additional
19 per cent targeting June or July and about 4 per cent expecting them to begin
before the end of May. About 26 per cent answered October through December.
Compared with the previous week, when more than 600 planners
responded, the percentage planning to resume operations by August or September
held steady, by June or July declined from about 20 per cent, and by October
through December increased from about 25 per cent. Those who were uncertain
declined from about 12 per cent to about 10 per cent.
The survey also queried planners on the factors that would
influence their decision to begin planning face-to-face meetings now. The number
one factor was favourable or flexible cancellation or attrition terms, at about
93 per cent. Second was confidence in duty-of-care components focused on
attendee health and safety, at about 89 per cent. They are least interested in
limited-time special offers, with just 38 per cent finding them influential.
The next survey, currently being conducted, will include
polling on hybrid meetings.