As destinations seek to broaden the value creation from events in pursuit of sustainability and community impact goals, Paul Mockler – the Head of Commercial Development at Failte Ireland – confirms that the new policies emerging from government are likely to widen the KPIs currently assessed when selecting which events to bid for.
“We’re going down the route of wider measures – more community measures, the impact on society, jobs, public health, and the environment,” he says. “By hosting the right events we can have the right impacts.”
Mockler: “The best associations will flourish when they’re looking outwards and they’re trying to have the biggest impact.”
But Mockler senses a tension that may exist between the associations and destinations due to a lack of definition and clarity of purpose; “In my opinion,” he says, “we’re at a point in time when, because of definitions and language, we may become at odds with associations whereas we’re actually on the same team.”
