Vaccines, ramped up testing, and universally agreed upon social distancing and safety measures are in place. The excitement with a return to travel is undeniable and, according to the March edition of the PULSE survey, partial re-openings in the UK and US caused hotel bookings to nearly reach pre-pandemic levels.

A scan of the business travel and meetings and events segments, however, paint a different picture. Appetite for travel and pent-up demand is certainly there. It is clear that we shall meet again – safely – but the way forward seems, at this point, to be under construction.

Digital and hybrid are so obviously the future one week – yet one week later, massive zoom fatigue sets in. It is widely acknowledged that meetings are set to become smaller, yet according to Knowland, the leader in group hospitality analytics for hotels, conventions and other meeting venues, the reality is that only 5% of meetings in Europe had more than 500 participants in 2019. So where do venue suppliers and event organizers stack their chips whilst adapting to a market in full flux?

To rebuild a robust meetings industry, leaders and decision-makers need relevant data. To make sense of that data, they need to connect to peers and experts, share real-life, personal experiences and knowledge, and generate actionable insights with lasting and sustainable results.

Great Hotels of the World, a leading representation company for independent upscale and luxury hotels, in partnership with techtalk.travel is launching the Collective #MICEBEAT – a series of informal, data-driven MICE talks, featuring leading international industry partners. An unmissable series of live-streamed sessions where, as an industry, we take stock of where we are, where we need to go and how we will get there.

The Collective #MICEBEAT lead-off discussion, co-hosted by Lea Jordan Co-Founder at techtalk.travel and Rita Machado, VP Sales and Marketing, Great Hotels of the World, will feature special guest panelists, Kristi White, VP, Product Management at Knowland and Luke Stevenson, Regional Sales Manager at Encore Global (formerly PSAV), the global leader for event technology and production services.

The 40-minute session, live-streamed on LinkedIn on April 27th at 17.00 CET, will focus on the Present And Future of the MICE industry.

ABOUT KNOWLAND

Knowland is the leader in AI-powered group business data for hotels, convention and visitor bureaus (CVBs), conference centres and other meeting venues and the driver behind adopting a Proactive Group Sales Strategy. With the industry's largest historical database of actualized events, thousands of customers trust Knowland to sell group smarter and maximize their revenue. Knowland operates globally and is headquartered in Rosslyn, VA.

ABOUT ENCORE GLOBAL

Encore Global creates memorable experiences that engage and transform organizations. As the global leader for event technology and production services, Encore's team of creators, innovators and experts deliver real results through strategy and creative, advanced technology, digital, environmental, staging, and digital solutions for hybrid, virtual and in-person events. Encore operates in more than 20 countries across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Australia and Asia Pacific. Encore is the trusted partner of choice for leading hotels and venues worldwide and was named to the Forbes 2018 and 2019 America's Best Employer list.

ABOUT TECHTALK.TRAVEL

Representing the change needed by the fragmented hotel and travel technology landscape, techtalk.travel is a community of hospitality innovators ranging from hoteliers and hotel owners to industry students and technology providers. With the power of idea collaboration and shared knowledge with key stakeholders, game-changers, and industry influencers techtalk.travel is a trusted go-to resource for neutral, ad-free hospitality technology content. The platform offers multimedia editorial-based content always with hotel technology at its core. Subscribers benefit from a wide range of educational content ranging from video interviews and podcasts with industry leaders, articles curated by industry experts, infographics, to live online think tanks, and more

Great Hotels of the World provides global hotel reservation, sales and marketing services for an exclusive portfolio of primarily independent hotels and resorts worldwide. Great Hotels of the World provides a range of products, services and innovative technology solutions for over 250 hotels worldwide through trade shows, e-marketing, business travel sales, meeting and incentive sales, public relations, Meeting Forums and a private label GDS chain code (GW). By acknowledging that each hotels core business is different, Great Hotels of the World help’s hotels and consumers to “find their niche” by categorising member hotels into niche travel markets. Great Hotels’ dedicated programmes are aimed at the leisure, meetings and incentive and corporate markets, whilst the individual leisure collections reach precise areas of the market in which the hotel specialises in including gourmet, spa, golf, honeymoon and many more. Membership of Great Hotels of the World is split into three tiers: the Luxury Collection, the Premium Collection and the Classic Collection and is by invitation only. Hotels must meet strict criteria before being accepted into the brand. Further information on Great Hotels of the World can be found at www.info.ghotw.com.

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