How will the event industry change after the pandemic is over: results of the study have been published investigating the influence exercised by the spread of COVID-19 crisis on development of the Russian event industry
The Exhibition Scientific Research
Center (VNITS) R&C, in cooperation with the Russian
Convention Bureau,
the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs and the Union of Exhibition
Developers with the support of the Roscongress Fund, has conducted a marketing
study into the impact of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus on
development of the Russian event industry.
The study results have been obtained based on
the analysis of the public domain information as well as an opinion survey of
the leading companies representatives in the industry: organizers of
exhibition, convention and other events as well as services providers. 245
companies took part in the survey which accounts for 12 percent of the total
number of active market players.
Event
industry, together with tourism, was the first to suffer from the impact of the
pandemic. The companies in the event market found themselves in an environment
of uncertainty due to having to cancel and to postpone the events. The study
reviews several scenarios of the industrys further development. If
restrictions on holding events and other forms of social activity continue
until May, then after they have been lifted, the companies are in for a low
activity month. Besides, they are highly unlikely to achieve the pre-crisis
levels. In the event of the restrictions being extended for a long period of
time, the losses to be incurred by the industry may exceed RUB 110 bln while
the number of jobs is to be cut by 50%.
Market
experts project that in the event of any scenario, it would take at least six
months for the industry to recover.
According to
Alexey Kalachev, Director of the Russian Convention Bureau,
the results of the study give quite a clear picture of situation in the
convention and exhibition industry at the present time which makes it obvious
that there is a critical need for support measures to be implemented with
respect to the participants in the event market on the part of the government
subject to all the factors of the industrys significance, i.e. economic and
social.