New agreement protects destinations and eventprofs

A new destination booking agreement has been introduced that sets out terms to protect venues and event professionals.

Hyve has said its business is “unrecognisable” from 2017 with the annual financial results showing a 110% recovery from pre-pandemic levels.

Stats from CEIR’s Q3 2022 results show the US exhibition industry continues to rebound on account of low cancellation rates of in-person events and an improvement in completed events.

UFI’s Asia-Pacific (APAC) conference will be held face-to-face for the first time since 2019 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in March 2023.

BPA Worldwide has launched Versions 2.0 of the VSef Standards Guide and VSef API Standards Guide for organisations.

Read on for a detailed event industry news roundup.

Hyve marks spectacular recovery, says business now unrecognisable from pre-covid levels

Hyve has published its annual financial results and the scenario couldn’t be more positive for the UK-based organiser.

According to the company, it is now “unrecognisable” from 2017 as revenues recovered to 110% of pre-Covid levels in H2 2022 and 90% for the full year at GBP 122.5 million.

The growth becomes even more impressive considering the fact Hyve didn’t run any events in China this year.

We achieved 110% revenue recovery in H2 and 90% recovery for the full year (excl. China), showing huge demand for our market-leading events #HyveGroupResults https://t.co/G8nyJnY1KK

— Hyve Group (@hyve_group) December 13, 2022

Mark Shashoua, CEO of Hyve Group said: “We have successfully delivered on our ambitious structural transformation and today’s results show the significant progress we have made delivering an industry-leading recovery and performance.”

“Our portfolio of market-leading events is now de-risked, with almost 95% focused on advanced economies with an emphasis on digital-ready growth sectors.”

“While we are mindful of the global economic headwinds, we are reassured by the strong visibility of future earnings, cash generative business model and forward bookings of £98m.”

“We continue to see customers choosing market-leading events even in times of economic downturn, as evidenced by double-digit growth in like-for-like customer spend for the third consecutive year going into 2023.”

New booking agreement seeks to protect destinations and event professionals

A new Destination Booking Agreement (DBA) has been introduced by Destinations International that sets out standards to protect venues and event profs.

The DBA toolkit seeks to establish mutually agreeable terms that will benefit both destinations and organisers.

Don Welsh, CEO of Destinations International, said: “The need for CVBs and business event [professionals] to come together to create best practices for destination booking agreement guidelines has been an ongoing conversation for our industry.”

“Destinations International’s Large Market Roundtable has done great work to take the lead on this thought leadership that will ultimately enhance our entire industry moving forward.”

In the light of the Covid pandemic and other adverse scenarios for the industry, the DBA addresses concerns of cancellations and seeks more accountability from all parties.

The agreement also aims to establish stronger partnerships between eventprofs, destinations, convention centres, hotels and other suppliers.

Dustin Arnheim, senior vice president of sales and services at Choose Cicago said: ““I am excited for this journey and look forward to our industry getting to a place where our contractual agreements are equitable for all—both suppliers and event organizers.”

“It is imperative that our customers feel equally protected within our agreements—from securing dates to making concessions legally binding.”

“Capturing the destination organisation’s commitments in the DBA prevents anything from being lost or misinterpreted when new staff come on board,”

CEIR’s Q3 2022 Index result shows US exhibition industry on solid recovery path

The US exhibitions industry continues to rebound and maintain a solid recovery path, according to latest data from the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR).

Stats from CEIR show in-person cancellations remained low at 3.1% in Q3 2022, compared to 97.85 in Q3 2020 and 20.6% in Q3 2021.

Almost 96.6% events were completed as scheduled during the period. The CEIR Total Index – a measure of the overall exhibition performance – continued to improve and was 22.3% lower than 2019.

Dr. Allen Shaw, CEIR economist, said: “The B2B exhibition cancellation rate should remain extremely low, and the performance of completed events will continue to improve. A full recovery for the industry is expected in 2024.”

Cathy Breden, CEIR CEO said: “Despite Omicron at the outset of 2022, CEIR research has documented an intent to return to face-to-face engagement at B2B exhibitions, and CEIR Index quarterly results show recovery is happening.”

“Each quarter, the Index is showing that more business professionals and exhibitors are coming back to the B2B exhibitions channel to meet their marketing, sales and business information needs.”

UFI to host face-to-face APAC conference for the first time since 2019

Global exhibition industry association UFI will host its APAC conference for the first time in the face-to-face format since March 2019

The association announced the 16th edition of the UFI APAC conference will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on March 2-3, 2023.

The next UFI Asia-Pacific Conference will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 2 – 3 March 2023. Open to all exhibition industry professionals, the event is back face-to-face after the pandemic years.

Read the full media release: https://t.co/7ZIe4ZMJJI#ufi #ufinews pic.twitter.com/asHCth14K8

— UFI (@UFILive) December 15, 2022

Mark Cochrane, UFI Asia-Pacific regional director said: “We are excited to finally be back face-to-face, and we are grateful to MyCEB for stepping up to support UFI and the Asian exhibition industry as we begin on the road to recovery.”

“Over the years, MyCEB has organised some of our most successful and memorable UFI events including both the 2009 and 2018 editions of UFI Asia-Pacific Conference.”

The APAC conference had been postponed for the past three years owing to Covid-related travel and health restrictions.

VSef Versions 2.0 announced by BPA Worldwide

Global assurance provider BPA Worldwide has released Versions 2.0 of the VSef Standards Guide and VSef API Standards Guide for event organisations.

The VSef standards seek to establish defined data structures and common naming conventions across event tech platforms in a bid to streamline the collection and exchange of data within digital, in-person and hybrid events.

https://twitter.com/BPAWorldwide/status/1602776804011708416

BPA president and CEO Richard Murphy said: “The consistency that the VSef Standards provide will allow for efficient data acquisition, aggregation, processing, sharing and reporting within companies and across the industry.”

“VSef establishes the standards for a range of key event metrics and engagement KPIs and how those data points should be formatted for easy transfer between systems.”

The VSef guides can be downloaded here and here.

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