The Global Business Travel Association, along with Cvent, released research findings on Friday about organization’s corporate meetings and events strategies that reveal a trend moving toward hybrid meetings with the number set to double in 2021.
Prior to the pandemic, approximately seven in 10 respondents (71%) did not hold any hybrid meetings. This figure remained unchanged in 2020. However, as restrictions ease and business meetings resume, hybrid meetings could be on the rise to better accommodate both in-person and virtual attendees and reach a broader audience. Three in five respondents (60%) expect their company will hold at least one hybrid meeting in 2021. In addition, 65% of respondents expressed interest in holding more hybrid meetings as a result of the pandemic.
Here is a further summary of the research findings:
Simple meetings will be first to recover. Approximately half of respondents (52%) expect the number of in-person simple meetings held by their company – with attendees or fewer – to return to the pre-pandemic level within a year.
For most companies, C-suite executives play a central role in approving requests to hold meetings in the current environment. Three-quarters of respondents say C-suite executives are involved with deciding if it is safe to hold a meeting or event in the current COVID-19 environment. Half say these executives have the most influence over the decision, while 17% say their company’s security/risk department has the most influence over the decision. While a number of other stakeholders, including HR, legal/compliance, travel managers/meeting planners and budget owners/business units, are commonly involved when deciding if it is safe to hold a meeting or event, they rarely make the final decision.
Few companies have central visibility of all of their meetings. Only 30% of respondents say “most” or “all” of their company’s meetings are visible on a central calendar. A larger number say “few meetings” (19%) or “no meetings” (20%) are available on a central calendar. In some cases, different departments or regional offices plan and track meetings in different ways. This can make it difficult to quickly locate all scheduled meetings in an emergency situation. In addition, without this visibility, organizations risk over-spending and improperly managing their events.
Respondents find value in virtual meetings as part of a more robust event program. The nearly complete shift to virtual events in 2020 led to a positive change in respondents’ views towards their effectiveness as part of their overall marketing strategy.
Respondents want to use technology to enhance the virtual experience. A large majority are “interested” or “very interested” in adding various technology components to virtual meetings to deliver a more engaging and immersive online event. These include virtual conferencing (79%), online registration (76%), post-event attendee surveys (74%), attendee tracking/lead tracking (70%), live polling (70%) and mobile event apps (66%).
While these are common staples of in-person meetings, respondents want to use them for virtual meetings, as well, to increase engagement and maximize virtual event ROI.
GBTA and Cvent will host a webinar to discuss the findings in more detail, including the operational changes required, on June 22 at 11am (ET). To register, please go to GBTA.org.