As more and more people around the world get vaccinated each day, the return of in-person meetings and events seems inevitable. To learn how destinations are preparing for this industry comeback – and how COVID-19 has changed the industry forever – we spoke to three different DMOs across the country.
How has your destination begun to prepare for a post-pandemic return of meetings & events?
While our region remains under fairly tight restrictions, our focus for the sales team is to plan and prepare for when we are able to aggressively pursue new business. At the start of the pandemic and continuing today our team has stayed very close to our existing clients as well as past clients. Our role is to rebook all cancelled business and this has been quite a feat. I am proud that we have been very successful at rebooking. The key to moving forward is preparation. My main focus has been to make sure that my team has all of the tools they need to succeed. We have spent the first quarter of 2021 putting systems in place for our team to be as efficient as possible while moving forward. The team is much smaller than it was so everyone needs to be able to be as self-sufficient as possible. We have also made a point of staying in close contact with industry organizations and spending time on as many webinars as possible to be sure we are abreast of industry news. In addition to the sales preparation, we are engaging our hotel and attractions in a safety pledge to make sure that any and all clients/guests are comfortable with visiting Detroit.
Susan Richardson, Vice President, Group and Convention Sales, Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau
Would say we have been very engaged with meeting and event customers on an on-going basis… first through rebookings and empathetic phone conversations. Not knowing exactly when the post-pandemic market will return it’s difficult to prepare too far ahead. We’re monitoring activities like lead volume, site inspections both virtual and F2F and customer entertainment all of which are inching forward.
John Cychol, FCDME, Vice President of Meeting Sales and Services, Visit Fort Worth
Tampa has been fortunate to remain open throughout the pandemic. Therefore, it was necessary for the community to immediately address safe visitation. Visit Tampa Bay continues communicating the evolving plans and capabilities related to meetings & events. As destination marketing commenced last year, an increased emphasis was placed on meetings and event advertising. These efforts continue to enhance awareness and have proven vital during a period when fewer direct sales opportunities exist.
Adam DePiro, Vice President of Convention Sales, Visit Tampa Bay
Do you think the meetings & event industry has been forever changed by the pandemic? Why or why not?
As with every major event – although we have never experienced something this extreme and devastatingly sad – our industry shows our resilience and adaptability. I think this event will forever change our industry first by the sheer number of industry veterans that will have either retired or left the industry and second it will change how we create, sell and operate conventions and events. I believe that as an industry we will want to come back to in-person events, but it will be up to all of us including our industry organizations to show us a better way. We will bring events back with a multi-channel offering. As we have seen over the past year, the technology exists to a critical component from a supplier standpoint and something we will all need to embrace is partnering with the client to make sure their attendee has the best, safest experience. Although the focus will remain on the leadership of the organization, we must also be focused on the end user.
Susan Richardson, Vice President, Group and Convention Sales, Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau
YES! I believe virtual meetings are here to stay in some form and fashion, which will have an impact on overall F2F attendance for some types of meetings and may ultimately benefit some organization in gaining a new audience which wasn’t previously able to attend due to costs. By and large I believe people will prefer and almost require meeting in person. People have said virtual can be too much of a slow grind and often takes longer for deals to get done.
John Cychol, FCDME, Vice President of Meeting Sales and Services, Visit Fort Worth
Undeniably. Lessons learned and vulnerabilities exposed will make the industry stronger, more sustainable and better understood in the future.
Adam DePiro, Vice President of Convention Sales, Visit Tampa Bay