Modern conference centres are increasingly relying on purpose built software for their scheduling, forecasting, planning and operations. What trends are shaping the Conference Centre Scheduling Software needs?
Latest data shows us that the Exhibition and Conferencing industry has grown by 2.6% over 2015 – 2020 in Australia according to Ibis World Research. The Covid-19 pandemic effect on the exhibition and conferencing industry will likely cause an approximate 20% decline in revenue in this industry according to the research platform. Some events, conferences and exhibitions are cancelled while others are postponed. It is therefore expected that the industry will see a one-time increase in events after the pandemic, paired with an expected 10% increase in revenue for the industry. The Conference and Exhibition industry in Australia accounts for a market size of approximately 14 billion with 2.375 businesses, large and small, operating in the industry, representing a total of 61.140 employees (data as per May 2020 according to Ibis World Research – References at the end of the article).
Looking at global data, the company Market Research Future predicts that the market for Conference Centre Software will increase by 11.68% worldwide over the 2019 – 2025 period, despite the dip due to the coronavirus. Exhibition and conference centres are increasing their budget on conference centre scheduling software.
At Priava, we have identified 5 key trends that are driving this projected growth post coronavirus pandemic:
- Need for efficiency
Conference and exhibition centres are under pressure to perform and be financially profitable. Competition is increasing coupled with the urgent need to make up for recent losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic. A robust software system, well-trained staff and real-time access to data is paramount to maintain efficiency and stay competitive in the current landscape. - High visitor expectations
Today’s conference and exhibition attendees expect more than the ordinary. Past successful events have set high standards as the new normal. Shorter waiting lines, easy check-in, availability of a wide choice of food options and continuously clean restrooms to name a few are the standard, not the exception. A beautifully designed conference and expo space, quality inserts in goodie bags, and live entertainment are also expected by the visitor. In order to meet these high expectations, operations need to run as smooth as possible; a conference centre scheduling software is mandatory to achieve this. - Event apps, wearables and second screen interaction
Interacting with the visitor via event apps, second screen games and wearables such as AR and VR experiences was a novelty a decade ago, started to emerge five years ago, and is expected in some shape or form nowadays. Interaction with the visitor digitally (either via their own devices or distributed and collected on-site) is becoming the standard and needs management across planning, security, IT and audio-visual departments of the exhibition and conference centre.
- Beacon technology and geofencing
With beacon technology (a device that measures proximity between visitors to map out visitor flow) and geofencing (availability of content or other data micro-targeted at geographical spaces), it is now possible to track and steer visitor flow throughout the venue and in key areas specifically. This in turn provides opportunities for additional efficiency in staff deployment, catering and security. - Artificial Intelligence recommendations and chatbots
With user behaviour being tracked, it is now possible to provide recommendations to visitors about other relevant exhibitions and conferences coming up, providing for an opportunity to up-sell and cross-sell to current visitors. And with the emergence of chatbots, exhibition and conference centres can now interact with potential visitors without the need for an employee to answer frequently asked questions to thousands of people interested in attending, resulting in greater efficiency.
At Priava we follow the current trends in venue and event management closely and continuously update and expand on our purpose-built Conference Centre Scheduling Software to meet venue and event managers’ needs. Interested to learn why thousands of venues across the globe, including exhibition and conference centres, are choosing Priava as their software provider of choice? Book a demo to see the difference for yourself.
Resources used in this article:
– https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/event-management-software-market-1399
– https://www.ibisworld.com/au/industry/exhibition-conference-centres/1935/
– https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/09/12/1914573/0/en/Global-Event-Management-Software-Market-Report-2019-2024-Growing-Use-of-Social-Media-for-Event-Marketing-Drives-the-Market.html
– http://www.iacconline.org/iacc-blog/conference-trends-2019-what-you-need-to-know
– https://www.eventbrite.com.au/blog/asset/2019-event-industry-trends/
– https://www.socialtables.com/blog/event-technology/event-technology-trends/
