Convention bureaus have operated as key stakeholders in the meetings industry for over a century, assuming major responsibility for marketing their cities, regions and countries as destinations for the hosting of business events, from small corporate gatherings to the vast annual conferences organised by international associations. During all of that time it has been clearly demonstrated that an effective and well-resourced convention bureau is essential to the success of any destination that wishes to establish itself as a meeting place and to benefit from the rich economic, cultural and intellectual benefits that usually accompany such events.
This report focuses on how convention bureaus have experienced the impacts of the pandemic and how they are adapting to the profound changes that the crisis has provoked in the way people communicate and collaborate for professional and business-related purposes. It specifically concentrates on those convention bureaus in the continent of Europe, which remains the world region with the largest share of the international association meetings market, as well as attracting more participants to international meetings and conferences than any other region. But European destinations also attract countless local, regional and national meetings, and this market too has been deeply disrupted since COVID-19 first arrived in every country of Europe.
The Impacts of the Pandemic on Convention Bureaus in Europe (MICE Knowledge website)
A Third of Convention Bureaux Suffer Public Sector Funding Cuts (Association Meetings International artiicle)
