As Malaysian borders remain closed to overseas event delegates and venues continue to operate at only half their capacity due to Covid-safe measures, industry players in the country believe that hybrid events will continue to dominate the format of business activities taking place in the new year.
At the recent BE@Penang hybrid event for the business events community, Ashwin Gunasekeran, CEO, Penang Convention Bureau, highlighted the positives of hybrid events, such as allowing local and foreign delegates who could not attend in-person an opportunity to attend virtually.
He observed that hybrid events have improved much since the early days of the pandemic, with content-enhancing elements such as holograms getting more commonplace. He expects virtual experiences to only get better as technology improves, allowing organisers a chance to leverage technology to meet event objectives and enhance the delegate experience.
Malaysia’s recent entry into the Hybrid City Alliance, alongside four local city representation from Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu, emphasises the country’s commitment to positioning herself as a knowledge capital and to supporting multi-city hybrid conferences.
Speaking on the matter, Abdul Khani Daud, CEO, Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau, said: “We are looking forward to working closely with other cities around the world to do multi-city hub events.”
Fellow panellist, Sabah Tourism Board general manager, Noredah Othman shared that being part of the Hybrid City Alliance would help the tourism board expand its network and learn from established cities, especially in terms of hosting successful hybrid events.
These industry leaders presented their observations and projections at a panel discussion, The Big Picture: Business Events 2022 & Beyond Outlook.
While the future of hybrid events remains promising, moderator Mona Abdul Manap, founder and CEO, Place Borneo, said such events receive much smaller financial support from convention bureaus as compared to in-person events.
She called on convention bureaus to change their mindset, as hybrid events could market a destination and entice virtual delegates to visit the destination in future.
In response, Amelia Roziman, CEO, BESarawak, said the state convention bureau provides equal support for hybrid and physical events. However, BESarawak is currently conducting a study to understand how it could support virtual events and the deliverables expected from hybrid meeting planners.
Industry leaders speaking at the Indonesia MICE Outlook 2022 last week in Bali have expressed optimism in the country’s business events future, with confidence stemming from a schedule of international events as well as strong domestic appetite for local meetings.
The Indonesia MICE Outlook 2022 was organised by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy.
Raty Ning, chairman of ICCA Indonesia, said 30 international events are scheduled to take place in 2022, and among them are the 2022 G20 Bali summit, the 7th Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, and an Asian Venture Philanthropy Network meeting.
She expects the G20 summit to spin off even more government-led meetings and events with in-person attendance, while the country continues to benefit from a strong showing of domestic business events.
“The year will be more exciting if the government could provide financial incentives to local associations to (encourage them to) organise events, such as annual scientific meetings and national deliberation,” she added.
Raty hopes government offices will also hold events around the country to fill available spaces and spread out the economic benefit of meetings and events.
Gary Grimmer, CEO, GainingEdge, opined that Indonesia’s recovery, along with the strength of her domestic market, was “in line with the prediction that at the end of 2021 the industry will start to move, and in 2022 it will increase as the regional market recovers”.
However, he expects global meetings to only resume in 2023.
Commenting on 2022 event trends, Grimmer said virtual and hybrid meeting formats will continue to play an important role as they allow organisers to reach larger audiences, allow for an integrated virtual contingency plan, and increase revenue.
“Future options may include multi-channel content to form a larger global event,” he added.