Is the pandemic ushering in a new technological era for the MICE segment, or are the hybrid meeting solutions that are springing up here and there merely an adaptation to the air of a time tainted by the coronavirus? Whatever the case, and while we await the day when physical meetings can resume as before, hotel groups are each in turn strengthening their technological offer for encourage connected and interactive meetings.
The Spanish group Melia Hotels International has just unveiled its "Melia Hybrid Solutions", a range of technological proposals that enable transforming meetings and events into hybrid formats. These solutions take the form of studios that can connect several venues simultaneously. Thanks to livestream technology, events can be broadcast live on different platforms such as social media, the customer's website or a microsite specially created for the event.
In addition to these studios, the Melia group, which offers 173,000 m2 of meeting space in more than 170 hotels worldwide, intends to offer organisers the solution they need to give their events a digital twist. A wide range of technological options will be available for make the event more spectacular and connected with the audience, such as holograms, virtual interface and stage design, augmented reality, etc.
" The personal experience of taking part in an event cannot be totally replaced by virtual experiencessaid José Miguel Moreno, Senior Director of B2B Sales and Marketing at Melia Hotels International. But hybrid solutions, which allow many people to be connected to a physical location or point-to-point connections, are a good way of keeping the MICE segment alive and meeting the needs of many companies that want to continue to organise this type of event." .
