2022 MICE Trends, All Gathered Here
2022 MICE Trends, All Gathered Here
Hello, this is Chris & Partners.😊 Before we knew it, the tail end of 2021 has arrived and 2022 is right around the corner! Through COVID-19, the MICE industry changed and grew in many ways. Today, shall we look ahead at the 2022 MICE industry's trends and outlook and prepare for the coming new year?
The popularity of hybrid events and tech advances are set to continue
Due to COVID-19, hybrid events became an essential event format in the MICE industry. Considering this, hybrid events are expected to continue even when in-person events return. In a study by Bizbash.com, 70% of respondents said hybrid events will be important to the event industry's future. According to Exploding Topics, searches for the term ‘hybrid event’ rose 150% over the past two years, and Conference News reported that in-person or hybrid events in London grew 231% per month this year. As demand for hybrid events has grown, the MICE industry appears to need to take a step further on hybrid technology in 2022. There must be better networking opportunities, richer data, and an improved attendee experience across live and virtual audiences, and sponsors must find better ways to communicate with virtual audiences. The MICE industry should therefore take interest in and keep pace with the evolution of new hybrid and virtual event platforms.
Increasing scale and frequency of virtual events
Before the pandemic, it was quite common for companies to hold one or more large in-person events a year. Entering 2021, due to constantly changing restrictions, companies are choosing to hold a series of small virtual events covering diverse topics rather than waiting all year for one big event that, in fact, has to be held. Regularly held virtual events help companies reach customers more often and provide the latest content, and so also brought the positive effect of raising brand awareness. In 2022, with the emergence of hybrid events, virtual events appear set to keep thriving. Frequently held virtual events will be a useful option that can serve as a regular touchpoint between companies and customers, or continue to be used as a backup option for in-person events if restrictions arise again. Also, to meet event hosts' heightened demand in 2022, much virtual-event technology is expected to advance and create better, more meaningful online experiences.
Rising importance of safety and hygiene
Due to COVID-19, in event planning attendee safety is seen as the top priority. 48% of event designers said the will to comply with local health guidelines is their most important concern in venue selection. As in-person events begin to return, hosts check attendees' vaccination status or require a negative COVID test to enter the venue. To plan safe events, they work to comply with health guidelines—temperature-check stations installed before venue entry, QR-code scanning—and sometimes get help from quarantine companies. In 2022, events will continue to be held in various forms, and to minimize COVID transmission at venues, the importance of hygiene and safety in event planning is expected to keep increasing. Today we explored the 2022 MICE industry's trends and outlook. Do you see trends worth watching going forward? It was a year where MICE events repeatedly stopped and started after COVID-19, and within it the MICE industry matured, taking on the challenge of how to plan events. Encouraging the MICE industry that has struggled and pushed forward through this, we close 2021 while preparing for the coming year with the 2022 MICE trends. Looking forward to a more advanced MICE industry next year—happy new year, everyone! 🎊
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