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Online Travel

Events Planners Postpone to 4th Quarter, Go Virtual in the Meantime

Dylan Monorchio

Photo Credit: Amid the spread of coronavirus worldwide, live gatherings in the near future are as impracticable as they are irresponsible. Adobe / Denisis Magilov

Skift Take

Event planners eager to avoid bidding adieu to their events have been optimistically postponing them to the summer months. With the coronavirus now showing little signs of abating by May or June, however, the industry is looking to the fourth quarter for recovery.

The meetings and events industry took another hit this week as economic giants U.S., UK, and Canada joined other nations in enacting stricter restrictions on travel and recommending social distancing and limitations on the size of gatherings. Large, live gatherings in the near future are as impracticable as they are irresponsible. The industry is looking past an increasingly risky summer at a possible recovery from the economic spiral in the fourth quarter of 2020, and event professionals must brace for impact as they head toward what, in the best case scenario, will be an extremely busy season. Meanwhile, adaptable event planners searching for a temporary respite from the costs of cancellation are pivoting to virtual events and engagement — a sorely underut

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