Nearly 90 conference centres and exhibition centres were surveyed in France last September by Coach Omnium, a consultancy specialising in MICE and business tourism. Unsurprisingly, this "Survey on the impact of COVID-19 on French convention centres and exhibition centres", published on 13 October is evidence of widespread paralysis in the sector, with serious economic consequences for those involved. " Demand in the MICE market has melted like butter in an oven "says Mark Watkins. The founder of Coach Omnium adds that the " three quarters of the professionals surveyed (...) expect their sales to fall by more than 50 % in 2020, compared with 2019. In fact, 27 % of these large operators will lose more than 70 % of business. ".
The congress, agreements and others general meetings were the most affected, with 91% of respondents reporting postponements or cancellations of these events, compared to 67% for the lounges45% for seminarsand 21% for study days. As for the date on which these professional events will finally be able to take place, the opinions of convention centre managers differ widely, proof if any were needed that uncertainty still dominates. And therefore a certain pessimism...
So while a large majority of them (89%) said they were optimistic at the end of 2019 about the MICE market, their share has fallen to 19% today, with 53% confiding their pessimism. The prevailing gloom is backed up by eloquent figures. Indeed, " 73% of convention centre and exhibition centre operators estimated that their establishment's turnover would fall by more than 50 %, compared with 2019, due to the direct and indirect consequences of Covid-19. "according to the Coach Omnium study.
