From a few relatively harmless news reports to rising global mayhem, Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) has seized the world’s attention in a way similar to its contemporaries Ebola, Bird Flu, and SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) have already done in the past. The only thing is that the concern is much more widespread this time—threatening to push the global economies into chaos, with event planning and management industry among the worst hit.
COVID-19 is following the path trodden by previous viral outbreaks; however, the only difference is that it is much more brutal and quickly evolving and spreading at an unprecedented pace. As on date, more than 2 million people have got infected, resulting in 100,000 deaths across 211 nations worldwide.
Looking at the gravity of the situation, the response to this outbreak has been dramatic – governments across the world have put their respective countries under strict lockdown. The transport industry is shut; flights have been grounded; holiday-makers are held where they are, locked up in cruise ships, event venues, and resorts— All this and more in an unprecedented effort to stop the spread and flatten the curve.
Implications for the Event Industry
One industry that stands to endure significant losses, (in fact, it already has) is event planning and management. The risk of a contagious disease like COVID-19 circulating quickly amongst guests as they travel from one region to another is an alarming one, especially for an industry that feeds on strengthening and celebrating networking by bringing people together from across the globe.
Several event segments of the business are bound to take the hardest blow because of the sudden change of the circumstances and a grim and uncertain future looking into everyone’s face. Here are a few implications that we see coming and would require elaborate preparation to counter.
Event Cancellations:
With the infections and death tally rising at a phenomenal pace, the hospitality industry has gone into the shutdown mode. In short, the venues, hotels, any accommodation required to organize and conduct an event is not available until the spread of the virus is contained.
Clearly, no-one can predict a timeline here. Consequently, the event management industry is left with no choice but the cancel all events on their watch and raise refunds.
Event Postponement:
A few of the clients have taken cognizance of the situation, and instead of cancellation, they have decided to postpone their engagements by selecting new dates, 3 – 6 months in future. It’s a dim ray of hope for vendors, employees, and business partners associated with different segments of the event industry, but still a very challenging task on the plate because of the uncertainty involved.
Relocation:
Some of the engagements that cannot wait long are being relocated too. Changing the environment could be helpful in some cases. However, with the majority of travel arrangement services also under the shutdown mode, it is going to be highly challenging to make things work with the available apparatus.
The need of the hour is to do some brainstorming and come up with innovative solutions such as live digital streaming, VR, event apps to counter these extraordinary times with extraordinary measures and keep the event industry afloat.
