The Conference, Exhibition and Event Environment BTEC National Travel and Tourism
Introduction Conferences, exhibitions and events are a very large part of the travel and tourism market. Just the UK conference, trade fair and exhibition sectors are thought to be worth more than £10 billion per year. It is a high quality, high yield part of the travel and tourism industry.
Value and Benefits The sector lengthens the high season for many leisure tourism destinations in UK It is a year-round sector Investment by regions to attract business from this sector can regenerate areas suffering industrial decline. Places battle to host major events – ‘place marketing’
Types of Event Product launches Awareness-raising events Annual conferences Trade fairs Business meetings Corporate hospitality Sales exhibitions Fund-raising events
Types of Venue Purpose-built centres (see list in Activity) Hotels often have dedicated conference and business meeting facilities Academic institutions often host specialist conferences Sports venues are increasingly attractive
Suppliers to the Sector Conference organisers Exhibition organisers Venue-finding agencies Audio-visual suppliers Catering companies IT specialists Security personnel providers
Buyers in the Sector Companies seeking venues for business meetings, events and conferences. Associations and trade bodies. Governmental organisations. Charities and other not-for-profit bodies.
Major Trends and Issues The growing popularity of unusual venues shows the need for ‘impact’ events. Organisations relying more on venue-finding agencies as the sector grows. The growth of importance of budget-level facilities.
The Future One of the main trends is the growth of video-conferencing as: Technology allows ‘real-time’ networking at a distance Equipment costs and line charges fall (ISDN etc) Organisations become more environmentally-aware
Key Question Will technology (the Internet, video-conferencing and conference-calling) ever replace the need for business events, conferences and exhibitions?