BVEP CALLS ON INDUSTRY FOR CONTRIBUTIONS FOR ‘SHAPE OF EVENTS TO COME’ REPORT

The Business Visits & Events Partnership (BVEP) is seeking contributions from businesses and organisations across the events sector for its upcoming report, ‘The Shape of Events to Come,’ which it plans to launch next month.

The report will provide an overview of the pandemic’s impact on the events sector; the road to recovery – focusing on what the sector needs to do in the short term and the support it requires; and building back better – the future of the events sector in the longer term – the opportunities and challenges it faces.

BVEP has already started gathering insights from its partners but is also encouraging other businesses and organisations to contribute and identify the changes that have emerged due to the pandemic. Other content for ‘The Shape of Events to Come’ will be based on existing plans, policies and research.

Simon Hughes, Chair, BVEP said: “We need to understand the impact of the pandemic on the sector, identify the plans that the industry has, what changes have emerged due to the pandemic, what might shape policy and the future role of events in a global Britain through the use of events as part of its soft power to grow domestic and international opportunities.”

The study seeks to identify business pivot examples, the impact to the supply chain, the increased use of online/broadcast/hybrid events, loss of talent, development of skills, use of government support packages, impact on the visitor economy in urban and rural economies and the changing nature of meetings and events.

“Case studies that demonstrate the future of events will be very welcome as we look to the emergence of a new vision for events. To build back better, there has never been a more important time for increased collaboration and representation across the industry to influence future policy. This study should provide evidence to underpin the sector’s importance as part of the government’s future priority economic sectors” added Hughes.

Data for the study has been pledged by BVEP Partners, VisitBritain, various national and regional destination management organisations, DCMS, BEIS and several universities, such as Bournemouth, with event management programmes in their curriculum. The report is being prepared by Richard Smith of Team Tourism with support from John Gallery, chairman of the BVEP research group.

To contribute to the report, visit: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/BVEP-ShapeofEvents

The deadline for contributions is midnight on 24^th May 2021.