Whilst COVID-19 is having a drastic impact across the world, it is hitting the events industry hard. Events bring people together and COVID-19 makes people stay apart to help prevent the spread of the virus. However, there are a few silver-linings including the start of Oxford Events Real Chat, which is an open forum for those delivering events in the Oxfordshire area who are meeting on Zoom every Tuesday since April to communicate, collaborate and share ideas of what the future of events look like in Oxfordshire.
According to the research undertaken by Experience Oxfordshire in their Visitor Economy: Covid-19 Business Impact Study, the reduction in spend from tourism related activity is already showing significant losses of between £112.5million and £137.5million per month, with monthly losses rising further as we proceed through the year into the peak visitor spend period. The Events Industry contributes significantly towards this loss and the events industry in Oxford need the confidence in attendees to come back to help minimise the impact on local businesses across Oxfordshire.
On Tuesday 23rd June, the group will meet at the Kings Centre, Oxford’s Largest Multi-Purpose Conference and Event Centre. In line with government guidance, the group will meet socially distanced with the rest of the group meeting virtually though Zoom. It will be the first kind of event that Oxford will have since the pandemic, and the event organisers would like to understand the experience that their attendees will have, how to gain attendees confidence by sharing the experience on social media and how to deliver events as safely as possible when restrictions are eased.
“Essentially, we are delivering a Hybrid event on a budget. We know companies will be conscious of spend whilst we head towards a recession, and therefore we would like to show that events can be delivered semi virtually and Oxford is open for business” explains Amy Hewick, from Hewick Events who jointly set up Oxford Events Real Chat with Chris Jones, Boys and Girls Promotions. “The venues that join the call have shared they are still taking new bookings and we want to increase the confidence to attendees that we can deliver safe, socially distanced events. We have been collaborating together since lockdown and therefore, we are in a stronger position than before” clarifies Chris.
Its times like this that Oxfordshire need to come together and support local businesses to get back on their feet. With the Oxford events industry collaborating every week, they will be in a good position to deliver safe events once government restrictions are relaxed. For now, the industry needs to gain confidence from their peers to show that the resilient industry is used to adapting their event plans to be able to deliver successful events in the future.
