Skift Take
This week, Sydney, Los Angeles, and Omni Hotels are showing how tourism and hospitality companies are disrupting the meetings and events industry, both online and offline.
The Future of Meetings & Events
I distinctly remember when Business Events Sydney launched its first "Beyond Tourism Benefits" research paper in 2011. It was a big pivot in the meetings industry that suddenly shifted our focus to the legacy impact of business events, beyond the immediate hotel room counts. Rather, the value of conferences should be measured by the new business relationships developed and knowledge shared due to better collaboration between government, academia, convention bureaus, business stakeholders, and conference organizers.
That research report has since evolved into a series of studies produced by BESydney in conjunction with the University of Technology Sydney. The latest was released last week at IMEX America in Las Vegas, describing how conferences are a catalyst for economic development.
David Swagell, industry team leader at BESydney, told me: “Specifically, we’re looking to focus on the connection between the business events industry and the commercialization opportunities derived from those events that will hopefully create a legacy impact
