PCMA releases new guide for navigating the pandemic and beyond

Compass, navigational compass, travel compass, lost compass,

The Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) has released a new framework to guide the business events community during the pandemic and beyond.

The Business Events Compass is an actionable framework of insights and strategies for business event professionals and their business partners to guide their careers and businesses during this difficult time.

The PCMA Foundation-funded service and inaugural report provides research-based insights on geographic and industry sector business events recovery opportunities as well as recommendations for the evolution of participant engagement, business models and expected reskilling needs.

PCMA president and CEO Sherrif Karamat said: “In the spring, I stated that our industry needs to be a part of the solution and not exacerbate the health crisis. Since then, our industry has been shattered by COVID-19.”

“And if we are going to play a role in bringing people together during the pandemic and through the induced economic and social crises, we are going to have to do it within a whole new paradigm.

“Business Events Compass is about understanding that paradigm and how careers and businesses in our global business events industry can evolve to thrive and continue to deliver the human connections our world so badly needs.”

Here are a few insights from the report:                                                 

A key element in PCMA’s Recovery Discovery initiative, examples of Business Events Compassinsights from the inaugural report include:

  • Business event professionals, chief human resource officers and event participants all agree that face-to-face events cannot be fully replaced by digital alternatives.
  • Best case economic recovery scenario (virus contained) for business events is currently estimated to be Q3 2021.
  • The speed of business events recovery varies significantly by global region, industry economic sector and event experience type.
  • Smaller, locally-focused business events will thrive in the initial recovery, driven by organisational business meetings and conventions/conferences/congresses. Incentive experiences and exhibitions will recover much more slowly.
  • 39 per cent of business event participants 25 to 49 years old expect to attend the same or more business events in 2021 than they did in 2019. This compares to 17 per cent for participants 50-plus years old.

Featured image source: iStock/BayramGurzoglu

Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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