Business Events Australia releases results of fourth wave of domestic sentiment research

Sixty-six per cent of decision makers said they were planning events in the next six to 12 months, up two per cent from December and 18 per cent from the first wave of research which was completed in August 2020. However, the research also suggests the majority may fall in the back half of this timeframe, with just over a third planning to deliver events in the next four to six months.

Those surveyed are also reporting an increasing level of comfort with intrastate travel for both them and their staff (77 percent are somewhat or very comfortable, up five percent from December) while confidence in interstate travel remains constant, with 67 per cent comfortable with it in this wave, compared to 66 per cent in December.

The research also showed that 61 per cent of events held in the last 10-11 months have been either fully face to face or hybrid. The desire to get back to fully face-to-face events continues to grow, with 61 per cent of respondents saying they were planning face-to-face events in the next 12-18 months, up from 59 per cent in December.  

Health concerns remain the main barriers to events resuming, although travel and gathering restrictions and lack of information on how to run a COVIDSafe event are also in the top five factors. This highlights an opportunity for industry to continue to educate corporate decision-makers and event planners on meeting and event restrictions, COVIDSafe plans and flexibility in contracts to help instil confidence in confirming events.  

This forth wave of research surveyed 457 people either solely or partly responsible for event decision-making between 23 February and 2 March 2021. 

Fact sheets for the first, second and third waves are also available:

• Domestic Corporate Research fact sheet - December 2020
• Domestic Corporate Research fact sheet - October 2020
• Domestic Corporate Research fact sheet - August 2020