American Express Meetings and Events, a division of American Express Global Travel Business, has released its 2021 Global Meetings and Events Forecast.
While typically the year-over-year survey comparisons reveal relatively minor trends, the 2021 Forecast shines a light on how the meetings and events industry will adapt in the year following the disruptions of COVID-19. To capture the full picture, we added several new questions to the survey. More than 560 meetings and events professionals from around the world shared their expectations.
The challenges of 2020 caused significant hardship for many in the industry. The situation cemented the value that meetings and events provide to drive business forward, whether through recognizing and re-energizing employees, informing healthcare providers about new treatments, or receiving guidance from corporate boards, to name just a few examples.
That meetings and events play an invaluable role was evident in the speed with which global organizations transitioned from in-person to virtual events. The message is clear: meetings have to happen.
Virtual and hybrid meeting formats, which were introduced nearly a decade ago, are now by necessity at the forefront of meeting design. With experience and the adoption of technology in place, meeting owners and planners will need to consider the end goal of each event or meeting to make the determination on whether in-person, virtual, or hybrid is the right approach.
Access the 2021 Global Meetings and Events Forecast.
We also will be hosting a webinar sponsored by Educational Measures to share the key findings of the Forecast on Wednesday, Dec. 9 from 11 am to noon EST/5 to 6 pm CET.
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