INDUSTRY INSIGHTS – Part 2

their offering to be more focused and niche, to be able to maintain control over delegate numbers and present a more valuable product. Traditional conferences will continue to be hybrid as this allows for a wider audience and wider revenue streams for organisers. Events will initially require proof of vaccination to attend to satisfy strict health and safety protocols, but I feel this restriction may be relaxed towards the end of 2023 as worldwide vaccination rates improve. Travel will open far quicker to vaccinated people. The PCR test regime will also begin to disappear towards the end of 2022 as it is an intrusive, inconvenient and expensive measure that will become less relevant as vaccination rates improve worldwide. Virtual events will be put back in their place as add-ons to inperson events.”

Sandile Dlamini, said: “Firstly, I’m thankful that we have survived 2020/21 with all its hardships. I’m grateful for that. It was a hell of a ride! The industry is very excited and upbeat currently as we are working and planning for 2022. I’m hopeful that many more South Africans will continue to vaccinate so that we may reach the levels that is required. We have already seen the infection rate dropping over the past two months. I predict a good and exciting 2022, better than 2020 and 2021 combined. I predict creation of more jobs in the industry. The country will be exciting again and the mood will improve from all the grumpiness and heartbreaks that we have had. I’m looking forward to hosting the Joburg Polo in the Park in early 2022 and more travel.”

Doug Rix, said: “Events and exhibitions will begin returning but with smaller stand space and reduced budgets being allocated and used by exhibitors compared to what was previously done during the years prior to 2019. Designers will need to be more creative than ever before in finding effective and cost-efficient solutions for their clients’ exhibition stand requirements.

Contractor companies will need to work harder with less margin to ensure they retain business opportunities in an Industry that will see several new smaller start-ups emerge to help meet industry clients’ demands for more cost-sensitive options based on the experience they have acquired previously when possibly working within a larger industry company.

Industry stakeholders will need to collaborate more with each other and smaller individual specialist companies, to ensure that all necessary goods and services are able to be sourced and supplied to the end client. Project coordination and management will be key in ensuring deliverables meet the available capacity, deadline as well as within available budget.

On a negative note – I believe that some industry stakeholders will need to reshuffle and look to stimulate and nurture brand new business partnerships where needed due to previous long standing business partnerships having soured over the past year-and-a-half of difficult cashflow resulting in strained business ties. The client - contractor relationships will be tested and will need to find a healthy balance with the timeous outlay of cashflow for any specific project (including balance payments on handover rather than 30 to 60 to 120 days after an event is finalised and completed.) Positive cashflow will be king and the road to true recovery of our incredible industry.”

Beert Kuiken, said: “My predictions are more load shedding and infrastructure challenges locally, less zoom due to zoom fatigue, people seeking more face-to-face engagements, hybrid broadcast of exhibition and events where financially possible, greater emphasis on sustainability and climate related issues.”

Raylene Johnson, chairperson of the SA Events Council

2020 was the year that never happened; the year in which the Covid-19 pandemic wreaked havoc around the world. It has left an indelible mark globally and on everyone in South Africa, in our provinces, our communities, our businesses and within our families.

The business events industry literally died a sudden death and we could not have even imagined the painful repercussions that this would have on businesses 22 months down the line.

2021 did not begin any better; the burden and lasting effects of the worldwide pandemic were still felt in immeasurable ways. We were hopeful and looked forward to some semblance of normalcy but that was only to be experienced in quarter 4 of 2021 when the country was placed on Covid -19 restricted level one, on 1st October 2021.

Slowly, but surely, we began seeing movement. While the business events industry rejoiced, we were still uncertain as to how this would play out. We were not out of the woods yet; the adoption of working from home and restrictions imposed on the public resulted in virtual events gaining popularity during the pandemic. Would live events ever resume?

Now, in December, we are looking 2022 squarely in the eye. The uncertainty in the eventing space is still prevalent, with uncertainty around the Omicron variant causing anxiety and hesitation. Certain events require years to plan, international conferences need months and years to organise, and the lack of certainty creates a sense of fear and doubt amongst international companies who would like to host events in South Africa. Thankfully most of the strict travel restrictions have now been lifted, but to keep momentum, we need to build a strong and lasting confidence in our industry.

The global business events industry generated an estimated $1.13-trillion in 2019 and in South Africa, the business events industry contributes an estimated R33-billion annually to the South African GDP as well as millions of rands in job creation. The livelihood of so many people depend on this industry. We have already experienced a massive loss of many companies and individuals who after many years have had to close their businesses and lost jobs. There has also been an uptake in emigration, to other countries where they could still make a living. Losing all that experience and expertise has dealt a devastating blow to the events industry.

As an industry that was very hard hit by the pandemic, we are hoping for a 360 degree turn around and a compound annual growth. South Africa has officially opened business events once again. We are continuing with all anti-Covid measures and strictly adhering to protocols and regulations.

We wish to see more people being vaccinated to establish herd immunity, to slow the pandemic and abate the crisis. The current local vaccination rates are growing as more venues, sporting and entertainment establishments require delegates and attendees to be fully vaccinated to gain access. South Africa could reach 70 per cent of vaccinations by 10 May 2023.

The SA Events Council, in conjunction with SA Tourism, is planning a national roadshow as an aggressive campaign to train and empower the business events partners in the various provinces on how to gain traction post Covid-19, to encourage vaccinations in the industry and to continue driving the momentum that we are already seeing.

We would love to share the natural beauty of South Africa with the world and see it become not only a top holiday destination but the number one business events destination for local and international delegates.

With the above in mind, the business events industry is looking forward to a brighter and more promising 2022.

Tes Proos, chairperson of Site Africa

UNTREND… that is the only way I can describe the way forward for at least the next two years.

As soon as we think there is a new trend, it changes. We have all become used to governments changing policy overnight. This has made forward incentive travel planning difficult. The pressure it is placing on the corporate buyer is immense as there is always the question of accountability and liability.

As much as our industry tries to apply Covid-19 protocols as effectively as possible, we can only be held accountable for the areas which we are directly responsible for.

For instance, let’s assume that a group goes the ‘social distancing’ route and books a Cape Winelands lodge exclusively — great! But then, some of the delegates decide to go to the V & A Waterfront on their leisure day, take in a cruise to Robben Island, come back and have lunch in one of the many Waterfront restaurants… then, days later, test positive for Covid-19. Now what? Who is to blame and does the entire group now have to go into quarantine?

These are just some scenarios that our corporate buyers may have to contend with. If there is a risk factor, despite vaccinations, many corporate leaders will not take the chance. What we have seen from recent research is that incentive travel is going ahead, but long-haul is being reduced. Covid-19 is not entirely to blame, as there is a large shift towards sustainability efforts, such as calculating carbon footprints on long-haul trips.

We are also seeing smaller numbers of travellers in groups, looking for more intimate events with little or no external contact. However, this is not definitive as there are still large incentive groups between 300 and 500 people travelling to mega destinations such as Las Vegas and Dubai.

Considering the recent Covid-19 infection spikes as well as a new variant and the increased restrictions, there is a good chance that it will impact on inbound incentive groups — hence with groups to South Africa we could expect more postponements or even, cancellations.

Despite the negative global spin, there is a surge in domestic incentive travel, which indicates confidence within both c-suite (executive level managers) and travellers alike. We hope to see this “trend” into other parts of Africa as we see more regional travel incentives in the rest of the world. Various African destinations are open and ready to receive incentive groups, albeit smaller groups booking exclusive lodges and boutique hotels.

Recent research shows that buyers are still inclined to be wowed by a destination and its experiences, less so by budget but more so by destination safety issues as far as Covid-19 protocols and practices are concerned.

Greg MacManus, chairperson of Event Greening Forum

At this time last year, we had hoped the worst had passed and that we would gradually see our industry recover and even thrive in 2021. But then February 2021 changed everything, and all bets were off.

Tougher restrictions and an extension of Covid regulations saw most predictions for the year shelved or at least delayed until the fourth quarter. So, this year perhaps, our expectations and hopes for 2022 should be seen together with a caveat considering a possible fourth wave of infections and restrictions. Having said this, there are some ‘green shoots’ worth considering.

The restart of the meetings and events sectors in the last quarter of 2021 should continue into the new year and – bearing in mind my caveat – they should gather steam during the second quarter. We will probably not get to our 2019 levels this year, but already, we see a commitment to two of the benchmark events on our calendar – Meetings Africa and Indaba – together with a host of other perennial events during the coming year. With this in mind — and with the relaxation of attendee numbers, this could be the year that the business events sector recovers some of the ground lost over the past two years.

On the sustainability front, even with the lessons we have learnt over the past year, the move towards greener and less consumptive events and meetings may take a little longer to recover. For the immediate future, I believe we will see growing awareness of the environmental and social impacts of this industry and less consumptive meetings and events. I predict that the organisational priority of clients will be to recover some losses of the previous year in preference to throwing themselves into greening and that the institutional capacity of companies to go in this direction has been impacted by the loss of skills during the last two years.

However, having said this, I do believe this is the opportunity that the sustainability sector has been waiting for and that PCOs and organisers have a remarkable opportunity to make inroads into more sustainable eventing this year. Global awareness of climate change and vector-borne impacts remains at an alltime high (what with the recent COP-26 talk and Covid), but will it be embraced fully? Hopefully 2022 is the year.

Travel will remain constrained this year as international destinations and source markets continue to battle their own Covid crises. But I am confident that by June we will once again be welcoming international delegates at local conferences and events. Having said this, virtual and hybrid events are here to stay, and I believe particularly corporate events, training courses, training camps and other smaller meetings will stay in this mode for 2022. Large gatherings will slowly begin taking place as Governments roll-out a viable and recognised VaxPass system and as organisers continue their cautious approach to the non- and anti-vax sectors of our community.

2022 will see the reawakening of our industry — from tourism to the MICE sector, and unless something dramatic happens late in 2021 or early in 2022, I believe the industry will recover and that by the end of the year we will be in a better place in terms of confidence to get our exhibitions, meetings, conferences and events sector back onto a sound footing.

Adele Hartdegen, AAXO board director

It’s hard to believe that we are nearly at the end of 2021, yet another year has passed with very little activity in our industry; but here we are, somehow we have managed to stay afloat. We are all hopeful that 2022 will be the year of recovery; slowly the excitement is returning to our office spaces and people are feeling positive again, reengaging with their clients and finally being able to return to face-toface events.

Leaning on international trends and research, we are very optimistic for the year that lies ahead; in many countries our sector has made a phenomenal recovery and in some instances even exceeded previous editions of their shows. This positive trajectory gives hope and inspiration for the journey ahead. The Weekly Journal sites a ‘Sunny 2022 Forecast for the Events Industry’ with predictions that the compound annual growth rate of the industry is expected to register 11.2 per cent from 2021-2028.

It is anticipated that for at least the foreseeable future, current measures will remain in place in terms of sanitising protocols, mask-wearing, and social distancing, whether or not our industry will be required to limit attendees to only vaccinated visitors remains to be seen. Health and safety protocols remain a key focus with special attention on food safety, air quality control, surface cleaning, and contactless transactions to mention a few.

With virtual and hybrid events playing a key role in 2020 and 2021, some of the trends will likely remain, conferences and exhibitions could retain hybrid streaming elements and big brands, who had success in hosting their own virtual events, could continue to do so.

There is no doubt that live events are the preferred channel for networking and that the focus in especially the business events space has shifted from quality to quantity. Throughout the visitor and exhibitor journey, quality of content, communication and reports play a key role in delivering a successful event. Market research company Explori, in