‘Be in touch’, may be the slogan.
In business events, all kinds of media are used on the one hand, but on the other hand it is the face-to-face communication, which has become part of companies’ marketing activities, that has given rise to many new firms and has encouraged existing marketing companies also to diversify into the business of events. The events industry is large and diverse. Within exhibitions in the UK alone, the industry contributed almost $20 billion to the UK economy in 2005.123 Events must be organized and marketed. Staging an event is a major logistical and organizational undertaking based on creative thinking and business knowledge. Business events have become so important that event management is being taught at universities throughout the world, including the US, UK, Germany, France and Australia. Events companies target many groups: business leaders, employees, people in certain industries, and for different purposes, often team building.
Events are a many-sided business, dealing with special occasions:
- Festivals and special events: have grown into a massive industry worldwide, generating billions of dollars for companies, centers, states and countries. Festivals and special events bring people together to celebrate, to remember, to support and to identify as a community or nation.124
- Special interest tourism: is one of the fastest growing segments within the tourism industry. A more mature traveling public is increasingly seeking experiences which satisfy a whole spectrum of interests. Accordingly, there is a need for new tourism products, services and experiences that cater to these markets. Special interest tourism incorporates various sectors such as regional, urban community, environmental, cruise, heritage, cultural, sex and educational tourism.
- Business and management conventions: The MICE sector is one of the fastest growing and most lucrative areas of the tourism industry worldwide.
- Behind the scenes at special events: covers the essentials of designing and executing a successful theme party or special event, from presenting a menu of theme ideas to creating a color scheme to designing and building stage sets.
- Professional event coordination: includes the full event planning process and provides tools and strategies to effectively procure, organize, implement, and monitor all the products, services, and service providers that will bring an event to life: Event design, Project management techniques, Site selection and development, Infrastructure services, Entertainment possibilities, Food and beverage options, Safety and security, Inviting attendees.
- Event marketing: from sales and advertising to public relations and community involvement.
- Event sponsorship: guidelines for attracting, signing, and keeping sponsorship for any event, including festivals, conventions, expositions, sporting events, arts and entertainment spectaculars, charity events, and much more.
- Event risk Management and safety: with any event comes risk, from rowdy guests at a festival or convention to a life-threatening riot at a sports event.
The US Meetings Industry
According to the US Convention Industry Council (CIC), the impact of the meetings, conventions, exhibitions, and incentive travel industry in the United States in 2004 as a whole generated $122 billion in total spending.125 This is more than the ‘pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing industry’ and only slightly less than the ‘nursing and residential care facilities’ industry. The industry’s spending and tax revenue cross through every sector of the local economy, from restaurants and transportation to retail stores and other services, while supporting 1.7 million jobs in the US it generated $21 billion in direct taxes. It generates more than 36 percent of the hotel industry’s estimated $109 billion in operating revenue, and its attendees account for nearly 17 percent of the air transportation industry’s operating income. Associated sponsored events accounted for two-thirds, or $82 billion of the direct spending industry total. Corporate sponsored events, including incentive travel, accounted for the remaining one-third, or $40 billion. The largest share of the convention and exhibition dollar (35 percent) is spent in hotels and other facilities. The rest is widely distributed throughout local economies. After air transportation (24 percent), the biggest categories of attendee, exhibitor, and sponsor spending were: restaurant and outside catering food & beverage outlets (14 percent) and business services (12 percent).
The exhibitions and events industry brings sellers and buyers together.126 It displays products and services. It educates participants and creates networking among them. Exhibitions drive economic impact at: convention centers, hotels, restaurants, transportation, shops and entertainment venues at leading American cities, Las Vegas, Chicago, New York, Toronto, Atlanta, Orlando, Boston, Washington D.C., Dallas, San Diego. In 2004, more than 13,000 exhibitions took place in the US, split into industry sectors:
- Medical and Healthcare 23.4 %
- Business services 14.4 %,
- Communications and IT 12.7 %
- Government, public and not-for-profit services 11.9 %
- Sports, travel, entertainment, art and consumer services 9.2 %
- Raw materials and science 8.1 %
- Consumer goods and retail trade 5.8 %
- Industry/Heavy machinery and finished business products 4.4 %
- Transportation 3.9 %
- Building, construction, home & repair 2.4 %.
The US $122 billion spending in the meetings and incentives industry in 2004 was an estimated one-third share of the world total of $366 billion that year. Total events industry amounted to an estimated $559 billion, leaving almost $200 billion to other events. The events industry has an annual growth rate of ten percent, making a total of $615 billion in 2005 and a projected $900 billion in 2010.
The events industry on the one hand is an important part of business travels and tourism. For example, hotels and airlines are highly engaged in business events. On the other hand, the events industry has moved into other sectors, including companies dealing with advertising and business information. The world’s leading organizer of trade and consumer events is probably Reed Exhibitions, a division of Elsevier Reed, one of the globally leading providers of professional and business information.127 Reed Exhibitions organizes hundreds of events worldwide, serving some fifty key industries (Aerospace, defense and marine; Arts and entertainment; Building, property and interior design; Electronics end electric engineering; Energy, oil and gas; Engineering, manufacturing and processing; Food service and hospitality; IT and communications; Jewellery; Marketing, business services and training; Retail; Safety and security; Sports, leisure and health; Travel). Other internationally leading special events companies include: The Special Event Company that produces corporate, pharmaceutical, media and academic events in North America, Western Europe and China.128 Extraordinary Events plan and produce entertainment and other events.129 MGM Mirage Events annually plan and produce hundreds of mega-events.130 VOK Dams Gruppe specializes in corporate events, trade shows, corporate communication and incentive programs.131 Steve Kemble Event Design, cover events from celebrating the accomplishments of NFL football players to organizing presidential parties and reality TV.132
Tourism Shopping
Shopping is a vital part of tourism and tourist spending. Tourism shopping is estimated to account for one-quarter of all tourism revenues. All types of tourism are, in one way or another, a form of consumption. Shopping
