One + July 2011 - (Page 20)

Business Events Extend Beyond Tourism THE MELBOURNE CONVENTION + VISITORS BUREAU (MCVB) has released the ﬁndings from an interim report on “The Holistic Value of Business Events.” The longitudinal study, conducted by the Centre for Tourism and Service Research at Victoria University, was commissioned by MCVB in February 2009 to identify and quantify the additional beneﬁts associated with selected business events over a two-year period. The study covers four conventions, and their associated exhibitions, held in Melbourne in 2009, ranging in size from 400 to 800 delegates in the medical, scientiﬁc and environmental/sustainability ﬁelds, and will track the beneﬁts pre-, during and post-event. A year into the study, the interim report has revealed that there is strong evidence of the additional beneﬁts arising from staging a business event. Results include: • 50 percent of respondents gained immediate information that enhanced their personal or business performance; • 54 percent of respondents developed new business contacts and relationships; • 63 percent of respondents found their industry sector proﬁle was enhanced 20 because of the event; and • 82 percent of respondents built relationships with speakers, delegates, exhibitors and/or organizers on site. Furthermore, more than half the recipients indicated they had: • Experienced additional “expressions of interest” from potential customers or investors; • Gained increased investor and/or competitor knowledge; and • Experienced innovation or opened business potential. Sandra Chipchase, CEO of MCVB, explained that although previous industry studies had acknowledged the value of business events “beyond tourism,” until now there had not been an attempt to quantify their additional beneﬁts over a series of years. “It has long been recognized that conventions create new and repeat visitors, attract accompanying persons, drive regional tourism and generate economic wealth and export orders for host cities,” Chipchase said. “The ongoing challenge has been in attempting to quantify the additional beneﬁts derived from business events, such as the development of new business relationships; innovation; changing perceptions of a country, city or industry; increased market intelligence; and/or improved performance. “MCVB commissioned Professor Leo Jago and his team from Victoria University to address this research gap, and after the ﬁrst year there is clear evidence to support a wider range of beneﬁts,” she continued. “Well in excess of 50 percent of respondents from all four conferences stated they had personally experienced some of these key beneﬁts as a result of their involvement in the conference.” Professor Jago says that evidence gathered from self-complete questionnaires at the conventions, in addition to Web-based and telephone interviews 11 months after the conferences, had shown signiﬁcant, positive results. “We will continue to work with MCVB on this study over the next year to see how we can further quantify this information and ultimately deliver robust, ground-breaking data for the business events industry,” he said. —JASON HENSEL Read more stories at www.mpiweb.org/Magazine/pluspoint one+ 07.11 http://www.mpiweb.org/Magazine/pluspoint

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of One + July 2011

One + July 2011
Contents
Energy of Many
Impressions
Paradigm Shifts, Part II
Web Watch
Agenda
Thoughts+Leaders
Ask the Experts
Recognizing Community and Organizational Excellence
Overheard
Art of Travel
The Prism Effect
Top Spots
Connections
Irrelevant
Using New Tech for Old Purposes
So You Think You Can Dance
Don’t Use Tech You Don’t Understand
Are You In It to Win It?
Anything is Possible
Night of the Radishes
Well Played
When People Come Together, Magic Happens
Size Matters
Building a Better FAM
One Bar at a Time
MPI + CSR
Industry Insights
Your Community
Making a Difference
Until We Meet Again

One + July 2011