Study on impact of coronavirus on European convention sector
The Strategic Alliance of the National Convention Bureaux of Europe, that Catalunya Convention Bureau is member of, has released the results of a study on “The Impact of Coronavirus on Europe’s Convention Sector”. The analysis, prepared by Tourism Economics, aims at providing a constructive narrative of the meetings and conference sector’s pathway through the crisis, towards recovery, and has developed three scenarios to reflect the possible range of outcomes from this crisis.
The study also analyses the Convention and event visitation and spending growth in Spain.
Baseline, upside and downside scenarios for European convention community
The baseline scenario assumes that all planned events scheduled between March and August are cancelled across Europe, with some recovery in September and October seeing up to 75% of all planned events within a given month going ahead and full recovery by November. Altogether, total event visits in Europe are expected to fall by 58% in 2020. Under the baseline model, some lingering negative sentiment effects are anticipated for both domestic and international event participation, which would result in a reduction in average attendance in 2021 and 2022 of 25% and 5% respectively, before fully recovering in 2023.
The upside and downside scenarios provide two alternative forecasts, indicating that business convention tourism will fall between 36% and 77% in 2020 with a sharp recovery under the upside and a more prolonged one under the downside scenario. The latter assumes, for example, that in September and October only 25% of all planned events are completed, with up to 75% taking place for the remainder of the year within a given month. It also foresees continued government restrictions on the size of gatherings in 2021 and a stronger impact of negative sentiment amongst potential attendees, which will ultimately not see full recovery before 2024. The upside scenario, on the other hand, works with the assumption that the crisis is brought under control in the next few months and expects a recovery beginning in June, with 25% of all planned events going ahead, increasing to 75% in August and all planned events being completed from September onwards.
Factors driving the impact of coronavirus crisis
In developing the three scenarios, the study considered the actions that governments, businesses and individuals take to curb the outbreak as they primarily influence how the coronavirus impacts the meetings and conference industry. Three factors in particular are driving the impact and were taken into account for the analysis: (1) event cancellations or delays implemented voluntarily by organisers or in response to government restrictions on crowd gatherings, (2) official travel restrictions, be it government- or corporate-side, and (3) individual risk aversion that might lead to potential attendees cancel their attendance.
About the Strategic Alliance of the National Convention Bureaux of Europe:
The Strategic Alliance of the National Convention Bureaux of Europe is a network of national destination marketing organisations. As a collaborative industry platform, it concentrates on strengthening Europe’s position as a leading destination for international business events. The purpose of the Alliance is to create a beneficial working relationship amongst the national convention bureaux of Europe in order to sustain and further develop the position of Europe.
The idea of creating synergies and establishing a joint platform for Europe as a destination for business events on the international stage continues to gain traction: Officially announced at IMEX 2014 in Las Vegas with nine founding countries, the Alliance is now a 28-member strong network that has steadily grown over the past couple of years. Since 2014, the Alliance has met twice a year in rotating host destinations.
DIGITAL SERVICES AND SOLUTIONS FOR VIRTUAL AND HYBRID EVENTS IN CATALONIA
Catalonia offers a wide range of possibilities for holding virtual events. Discover some outstanding examples so that your meetings and incentives are a complete success:
ONLINE TEAMBUILDING
Humanside Experiences offers a proposal of online Teambuilding experiences so that the teams that are currently working remotely can continue making the most of the benefits of these activities.
VIRTUAL GUIDED VISITS
Discover Barcelona from the comfort of your home thanks to Icono live tours, where users can interact live with the official guides. Icono also offers new virtual team building activities like ICONO Trivia, a question and answer game in a television contest format ideal to entertain all kinds of events
TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS FOR VIRTUAL EVENTS
Fluge Audiovisuales Barcelona proposes an efficient and new solution to the current setbacks, making an online platform available to all its clients in order to maintain the one to one relationship between professionals and public to undertake events, talks, surveys, debates, networking, product presentations and live concerts. The client can count on the professional production and content edition during video conferences.
Softcongres has developed a software to give live seminars to up to 1,000 attendees at the same time and 4 simultaneous speakers.
Intracon Marketing Solutions offers solutions for undertaking all kinds of fully customised digital events. Intracon designs disruptive and interactive events in which bidirectionality and gamification have a major influence.
GRUPO RIC has developed a platform for hybrid and virtual events. The customized WEB-APP also offers: possibility to rent a virtual set of Barcelona, augmented reality, possibility of gamification, unlimited number of attendees, surveys and live Quiz…
CATALONIA: VIRTUAL SITE VISITS
Virtually discover some of the most emblematic venues in Catalonia. Catalonia offers a wide range of meeting spaces adapted and equipped to host all types of meetings and customised events. Visit them now from home.
MEETING SPACES
Palau de Congressos de Catalunya
Centre de Convencions Internacional de Barcelona
Port Aventura Business & Events
Dolce Sitges Convention Centre
UNIQUE SPACES
Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya
Museu Nacional de la Ciència i de la Tècnica de Catalunya
A 360º TOUR OF THE CAPITAL OF CATALONIA
16 companies join up with Catalunya Convention Bureau
There are now 250 companies and entities working with the Agència Catalana de Turisme to boost meetings tourism.
The latest adhesions are: the Palau de Congressos de Catalunya; the hotels Hesperia Barcelona Tower, Hotel Renaissance Barcelona Fira, Gran Hotel Havana, Hotel Sunway Playa Golf Sitges, The Gates Diagonal Barcelona, ME Sitges Terramar, Hotel Villa Retiro; the outdoor and team building company IOLO Planet; two companies of complementary services, Eventum Staff for Events and Eikonos; and the restaurants Marina PortVell, Restaurant Kauai, Tablao de Carmen and Restaurant Casa Marieta.
In 2019 the offer of services of the Catalunya Convention Bureau was strengthened with the incorporation of 34 members. The updated Meeting Planner Guide with all the new incorporations will shortly be available.
The Agència Catalana de Turisme is committed to meetings tourism with the challenge of positioning Catalonia in the international market. With the creation some years ago of the Catalunya Convention Bureau (CCB), the ACT assesses and provides useful tools to the professionals working in this sector in order to have available the maximum amount of information and resources possible and to improve their commercial strategies. In this task it also works with the different convention bureaux around the region to ensure a greater response in attracting and consolidating clients in this business.
AMBASSADORS BREAKFAST-DEBATES
Each area of Catalonia organises a debate in the form of a breakfast within the setting of the Ambassadors Programme. The breakfasts, attended by the Director of the Agència Catalana de Turisme, David Font i Simon, boost the generation of synergies to incorporate knowledge and value, transversal for all industries. It is a good occasion to discover first-hand experiences and good practices in the attraction and planning of professional events organised to be economic accelerators and innovative in the region.
Seafood Expo Global
The Fira de Barcelona, with the collaboration of the Barcelona Convention Bureau, has managed to bring to the Catalan capital, as from 2021, the Seafood Expo Global / Seafood Processing Global, the largest fair in the world for produce of the sea. After 28 years in Brussels, the organiser of the fair, Diversified Communications, with headquarters in Portland (USA), has decided to move it to Barcelona due to its large exhibition space in the Gran Via precinct, its advanced technical and logistic services, and the excellent and extensive hotel offer of the city, among other reasons. At its last edition, this fair brought together 29,288 delegates and 2,020 exhibiting companies.
Summary Ambassadors agenda 2019
2019 has been a year full of cultural and leisure activities all around Catalonia. We have had the pleasure of meeting together in emblematic and singular places and events. The list of meetings is long, and many good memories we have of them as well: International Music Festival of Classical Music in the Món Sant Benet, concert by Gerard Quintana in the Modernist Centre of Sant Pau and by Charlotte Gainsbourg in Peralada, jazz on the terrace of the Pedrera, guided visit to the cellars of Torre del Veguer with wine-tasting, Formula 1 and Motor GP at the Circuit of Catalunya, seasonal opening party in the Hotel Spa Terraza in Roses, cuisine workshop in the Hotel Barcelona Catedral.
Many thanks for accompanying us!
AMBASSADORS PROGRAMME
Dear friends,
We are approaching the last quarter of the year with new Breakfast-Debates that will take place in Barcelona, Tarragona Lleida and Girona. We also want to highlight the arrival of IBTM World, one of the most important trade fairs in the world in the sector of congresses, incentives and meetings, which will be held from the 19-21 of November in the Gran Via centre of the Fira Barcelona. The Catalunya Convention Bureau is taking part with a stand (C40). We are expecting you!
Sònia Serracarbassa
Director of the Catalunya Convention Bureau
