Academic Papers
Deborah Edwards*; Carmel Foley, Anja Hergesell
ABSTRACT: Research has confirmed that F2F conferences generate significant benefits for destinations, communities, industries and economies. In addition to the immediate economic effect of a contribution to the visitor economy of the destination, F2F conferences build knowledge economies and networks, driving industry innovation and trade and investment. There has also been significant criticism of F2F conferences, particularly in terms of their negative environmental impacts, inequity of accessibility, and the ineffectiveness of traditional event design. The travel barriers associated Covid19 pandemic disrupted F2F conferences and accelerated the global move to online conferencing. While F2F attendance is returning, there is a growing trend for conferences to offer both modes of attendance; the hybrid conference is becoming the norm. Drawing on recent literature and a survey of international delegates, this study explores the advantages and disadvantages of both F2F and online modes of conference attendance and discusses ways in which we might leverage better outcomes from hybrid conferences in order to maximise outcomes for all
stakeholders.
Margaret Kit Yok Chan*, Siew Eng Ling
ABSTRACT: The definitions of legacy and various tools of measuring legacy impacts from different perspectives were reviewed. Sarawak Convention Bureau’s initiative to enhance business events with a legacy programme as catalysts to the Sarawak Government Development Plan towards 2030 along the seven key focus areas and the United Nation 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has established five pillars of legacy impacts. Using the BESLegacy Initiative Guideline, the strategic pursuit of measuring the legacy impacts of the 1st International Conference on Education in the Digital Ecosystem (ICEdDE) 2019 were mapped. Methodologically, this paper is based on a case study. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected supplemented by official documents. In the framework of planning to measure immediate outcomes, short, medium and long-term legacy impacts, the legacy plan provided evidence of being able to function as a model for forecasting the tangible and intangible impacts of the ICEdDE 2019. The immediate outcomes and short-term impacts were assessed using a questionnaire gathered from Sarawak participants. The respondents agreed to strongly agreed to the immediate impacts that the conventions had on them based on the eight domains. From the perspectives of convention host and the delegates, it was still very much traditionally perceived that the biggest value from conventions came from Knowledge Expansion. This was the main reason for wanting to attend the convention to listen to the deliberations of knowledge that was new or created through collaborations and shared from presenters particularly the keynote, plenary and invited speakers. They agreed networking and relationship building was also a motivator. In a broader outlook, only the host indicated other domains of Fundraising and Philanthropic support, Raising Awareness and Profiling and Trade though exhibitions as immediate and long-term impact which could be quantified and measured. However, the delegates pre-conceived such domains as secondary. The case study on ICEdDE 2019 measuring the short, medium, and long-term legacy impacts was able to show significant contribution to the development of Sarawak digital economy in education and service development industry towards achieving 5 United Nation SDGs.
Belinda Fong Chong Lynn
ABSTRACT:In the events sector, research on the event experience is gaining more and more significance. Active, pleasure-seeking customers seek “fantasy, emotions, and fun”via consumption (Holbrook & Hirschman, 1982), which has helped to boost experience marketing by emphasising the need to amuse, thrill, and emotionally connect with consumers through their consuming experience (Schmitt, 1999). According to Prahalad and Ramaswamy (2004), authentic, individualised experiences produced via active interaction are more valuable than objects or services. As the number of events increases, event organisers are under increased pressure to provide distinctive experiences in order to maintain a competitive advantage (Geus, Richards, & Toepoel, 2013). This workingpaper intends to investigate the knowledge of event experience education management in Malaysia, particularly in post-COVID event planning where the event experience must be carried over to both physical and virtual platforms. The planning and curriculum design for adequate operationalisation and assessment of event experiences education and skills will need to change, and determining how to implement this change will provide more accurate relevance and useful insights for event academics and the industry, as well as current and prospective students in Malaysia.
Francesca d’Angella*; Ruggero Sainaghi
ABSTRACT: In recent years, a specific literature has been focused on the link between events and sustainability, aimed on the one hand at identifying the conditions for events to be sustainable, and on the other hand at pointing out how events themselves can become important tools for promoting a sustainable tourism. However, much of this literature focuses mainly on large events or events of a certain duration while literature on minor events is still quite limited. By means of a set of analyses focused on both leisure and business events of Milan (second largest Italian city), this paper wants to reflect on the potential role played by minor events in supporting a sustainable tourism development of an urban destination. The empirical evidences suggest that minor events could positively contribute to a sustainable tourism development of an urban destination. Moreover, in some specific cases small is better than big, meaning that minor events could be even more relevant than big ones in reducing seasonality (occupancy) and increase prices (ADR) in the hosting destination. In addition, as interesting side results, the study of the typical features of both minor business and leisure events confirm that even other non-economic dimensions are worthy of future investigation.
Ying Ying Tiong*, Suet Yiee Chiu
ABSTRACT:The current study addressed two concerns about the effects of movement restrictions on business events: (1)how to continue with business events while face-to-face events are preferable but not always possible; and (2) how to maintain business events’ market share post-pandemic. While the business events market remains niche, its promotion is consistently limited to a few methods that make no distinction between pre-and post-pandemic. It is assumed that new methods of promoting business events will be required at least intra-pandemic to capture several new norms. Therefore, an extensive literature review was conducted. The analysis disclosed the potential for introducing virtual reality into the e-tourism industry as a whole, with the capacity to serve at least four tourism markets: leisure, educational, events (MICE), and healthcare and wellness tourism. These markets were emphasised in light of the “new experience society” that events in the tourism industry are increasingly important in providing something artificial, transient, and unique
in addition to the ongoing, long-term tourism products based on the past research outcomes. Additionally, website content analysis was performed to investigate the normality and potential of e-marketplace optimisation for e-tourism. The normalisation analysis was conducted based on the search results of the top 5 e-marketplaces in Malaysia, and the results supported the inference of abnormal distribution using these platforms. Another
finding of market potential has lent credence to the existing idea through a firm’s initiatives to sell on existing e-marketplaces with proven consumer support. To capture the market opportunities, the e-tourism normalisation model was introduced.
Martina Stoff-Hochreiner, Christian Mutschlechner, Andreas H. Zins*
Vienna as a capital city in the heart of Europe is considered a first-ter destnaton for congresses and conferences (VCB, 2022). The Vienna Conventon Bureau (VCB) has been reportng statstcs on the demand and economic impact about its congress and conference sector since 1991. The contributon to overnight tourism demand fell from a long-term average of around 11% before COVID to 6% in the year 2021 (VCB, 2022). International congresses contributed 39% of total participants, 68% of overnights, 74% of induced economic impact and 75% of induced tax income for the City of Vienna according to the Event Model Austria (© Consultng Dr. Martna Stoff-Hochreiner). This academically recognized model supports specific extrapolaton of the spending induced by congresses according to mult-dimensional classificaton criteria, as well as their economic and tax effects. The Event Model Austria is constantly updated (economic and tax parameters specific to the Austrian economy, regular surveys with congress participants, exhibitors and experts) to ensure accurate economic impact assessments. Congresses and conferences in the medical segment are responsible for about 40% of the internatonal demand followed by natural science (with 15%) and economy and politcs (with 12%; VCB, 2022).
Industry Papers
Jie Min Ho*; Chee Vui Ang and Shirley Yi Wen Yong
ABSTRACT: The views of Mr Geoffrey Lee, Head of CRM and Market Intelligence with Business Events Sarawak (BESarawak), on Sarawak’s current business event landscape are discussed. Notably, this industry perspective paper described the action taken by the business event industry to tackle the challenges in times of COVID-19 as well as the observed obstacles in positioning Sarawak as a leading business event destination.
Jane Vong Holmes
ABSTRACT: This submission is derived from the “Business Event Legacies in Daegu, Korea” which was commissioned by the Daegu Business Events District. This report sponsored by the Daegu Metropolitan City and Daegu Convention & Visitors Bureau (Daegu CVB) illustrates legacies from five business events which were held in their city. Data for the report was compiled and researched by Prof. Jun Soo-hyun, Prof. Oh Ik-geun (Department of Tourism Management, Keimyung University), and Dr. Park Seong-deok (DaeguGyeongbuk Development Institute). Dr Kwon Young-Jin, Mayor of Daegu explained that the report is ground- breaking because it clearly shows that international business meetings are transformative agents for Daegu, and the city will leverage on its future conventions as a strategy for the development of its priority industries. This summary article for IJBEL which covers two case studies is submitted on behalf of the Daegu CVB which acts as the Secretariat for the Daegu Business Events District. Daegu has long roots in its conventions industry as the site of South Korea’s first regional convention centre EXCO which opened for business in 2001. Two years later, the Daegu CVB was set-up, and the city has not looked back since. With an impressive list of national and international conventions under its belt, Daegu is one of South Korea’s top convention cities. The 28thWorld Gas Conference and 13thWorld Conference of Geron technology are among those expected this year. In this submission for the IJBEL, the legacy impacts of hosting International Solar Cities Congress 2004 (ISCC 2004) and WEC 2013 or the “Energy Olympics” are scrutinized.
Jane Vong Holmes
ABSTRACT: This submission is derived from the “Business Event Legacies in Daegu, Korea” which was commissioned by the Daegu Business Events District. This report sponsored by the Daegu Metropolitan City and Daegu Convention & Visitors Bureau (Daegu CVB) illustrates legacies from five business events which were held in their city. Data for the report was compiled and researched by Prof. Jun Soo-hyun, Prof. Oh Ik-geun (Department of Tourism Management, Keimyung University), and Dr. Park Seong-deok (DaeguGyeongbuk Development Institute). Dr Kwon Young-Jin, Mayor of Daegu explained that the report is ground-breaking because it clearly shows that international business meetings are transformative agents for Daegu, and the city will leverage on its future conventions as a strategy for the development of its priority industries.
This summary article for IJBEL which covers one case study is submitted on behalf of the Daegu CVB which acts as the Secretariat for the Daegu Business Events District. Daegu has long roots in its conventions industry as the site of South Korea’s first regional convention centre EXCO which opened for business in 2001. Two years later, the Daegu CVB was set-up, and the city has not looked back since. With an impressive list of national and international conventions under its belt, Daegu is one of South Korea’s top convention cities. The 28th World Gas Conference and 13th World Conference of Gerontechnology are among those expected this year.
The legacy impacts of hosting the World Congress of Neuroscience (IBRO 2019) is scrutinized.
Milos Milovanovic
Subtitle: Destinations and their International Association Leaders
The world has faced serious challenges that have dramatically changed the business and social
environment in recent years. The global pandemic has affected economic performance in every corner
of the world and after an initial phase of adjustment there is a need to speed up recovery. In the
meantme, new challenges have emerged to disrupt the global supply chains, raising questons about
key sources of growth and economic development in the world. Natural and energy resources, labour availability and influence on global markets, media and social networks (and soft power), financial
superiority in the monetary system are treated as resources in global competton.
Special Notes
Jane Chang
ABSTRACT: TWhen I was a full time academic, ” REF” and ‘impact’ were the buzzwords since 2014. There seemed to be a different REF and impact-related event scheduled, even training aimed at every level of researchers. Lots of energy was invested in spreading the word on “REF and ‘impact’ to the last academics.
Working as a volunteer for an NGO advocating research with an impact in the Higher Education institutions in Malaysia, I find history repeating itself. In 2021, for the first time, Malaysia Higher Education funded the research impact training for academics on research with ‘impact’, which modelled the UK REF. Malaysian academics and university managers seem to be baffled by the notion of research agenda on impact. Frantically training academics to figure out and explain what impact is. Tracking down potential impact-generating scholars and tasking them with producing impact case studies with endless rounds of corrections for case studies as outputs of the funded program.