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Cvent, a market-leading meetings, events, and hospitality technology provider, shared the results of their latest research into the Australian and New Zealand events industry today, at AIME, in Melbourne. The comprehensive study gives MICE professionals insights into event budgeting, planning, marketing, and ROI trends, while highlighting the still-nascent role event technology has in the region.

Despite the evolution of technology and rising attendee expectations, the results from the study show that the problems faced by event planners and marketers remain the same – from obscurity in meetings and events budgets, difficulty proving ROI and overall event success, to dealing with inefficiencies in manual processes.

Speaking about the low adoption of technology in the ANZ region, Jack Ukil, Director of Sales, Cvent Australia said, “Over 60 per cent of event professionals in Australia and New Zealand are still largely dependent on manual processes when it comes to their event management and marketing needs. What is most concerning about this finding is that they are missing out on crucial data and insights that event technology can offer – giving them the ability to compile more accurate event reporting.

“On an even more basic level, technology alleviates the added stress and time that manual processes consume, helping them automate and streamline their tasks, while also providing a more secure way to collect attendee information. With expanding data-privacy concerns and regulations, it is imperative that MICE professionals address these concerns.”

Low technology adoption at events:

  • 68 per cent of respondents check-in attendees manually using Excel spreadsheets or via paper sign-in. These processes are not only inefficient and time consuming but are not a secure way to collect attendee data.
  • Nearly 60 per cent of respondents stated they are using Excel spreadsheets, email responses, or walk-in registration tactics to register attendees. These tactics hinder an event organiser’s ability to scale their events or attract new attendees.
  • Only 12 per cent of respondents preferred using mobile apps over other engagement tactics, indicating the nascent stage of mobile event app adoption in the ANZ region. Education is required to apprise event professionals of its benefits.
  • 65 per cent of respondents stated they were either not tracking session attendance at all or tracking it manually with paper sign-in sheets, while only 12 per cent of the respondents use the data gathered onsite to improve the onsite execution and attendee experience of the event itself.

Budget and ROI insights:

  • Only 29 per cent of respondents expected to see an increase in their event budget, while 62 per cent said it would remain the same – which underpins their dependence on more cost-effective, yet inefficient and problematic, manual processes.
  • 50 per cent of respondents cited ROI to be the most influential factor behind their event decisions.
  • Despite ROI being the most important factor behind event decision making, nearly 60 per cent of total respondents have trouble proving it.

Manual process burdens:

  • 61 per cent of event professionals are still handling most of their tasks using manual tools like Excel spreadsheets and email.
  • 35 per cent of event professionals in ANZ are using technology in some form – highlighting the fact that while some MICE professionals recognise the value that technology brings to their event management processes, there is still work to be done to showcase its benefits.

“There is a general lack of awareness about the benefits event technology can bring – not just to the event organiser, but to the overall attendee experience,” Ukil continued. “The slow transition to technology is hindering event professionals from making important data-driven decisions, which will help them truly maximise the impact of their events and grow ROI and attendance year after year. This presents an opportunity for event technology providers to ramp up their educational offerings and provide additional thought-leadership studies and insights to support better technology adoption in the region.”

Cvent will present the full results of the research at AIME 2020, in the session: Survey Says! Event Technology Trends in Australia and Globally on Wednesday, 19 February 2020, 11:30am – 11:50am in the Ideas Academy.