Events can pave the ways for meaningful encounters and enhanced visitor experiences.
Events have the power to build inclusive communities and better
places to live, highlighting the extent to which meetings and
conferences can contribute to a destination’s societal impact.
This was one theme explored in a webinar hosted by the GDS-Index, a
sustainability benchmarking and improvement programme for destinations
around the world, which looked at ways in which events can be used to
boost regeneration and leave a lasting legacy.
Guy Bigwood, CEO of GDS, said it was important to define and describe
positive impact. He spoke alongside contributions from representatives
from a number of destinations and venues, including Explore Edmonton,
Tourisme Montreal, Visit Britain and ExCeL London.
On a destination level for example, positive impact is about what’s being done to tackle climate change and biodiversity collapse and how we can use events in tourism to change people’s habits and build better places to live.
Guy Bigwood, CEO, GDS
“On a destination level for example, positive impact is about what’s
being done to tackle climate change and biodiversity collapse and how we
can use events in tourism to change people’s habits and build better
places to live,” said Bigwood. “We need to rethink how events and
tourism drive social economic development. If we do that, we're going to
be enabling meaningful encounters and even better visitor experiences.”
Genevieve Leclerc, co-founder and CEO at #Meet4impact, a
not-for-profit organisation aimed at empowering the business events and
association sectors to deliver positive societal impact through their
events, outlined why societal impact is becoming increasingly important,
and how corporates and associations have new expectations.
“We’re very familiar with safety concerns and digitisation following
the Covid pandemic, but many associations and corporations are now
coming to us with their events because they want a better sense of the
destination - they want to feel the destination,” she said. “They want
to understand your DNA, they’re also looking to align their values with
destinations and they want to better understand the value that they
create through their events.”
[Associations and corporations] want to understand your DNA, they’re also looking to align their values with destinations and they want to better understand the value that they create through their events.
Genevieve Leclerc, co-founder and CEO, #Meet4impact
Leclerc added that #Meet4impact is working with destinations to
develop stakeholder ecosystems that extend beyond attracting events.
“It’s about creating meaningful collaboration, which means that when
an event comes to town, it's being connected to the needs and gaps for
growth of that community,” she said. “In return, the community is
feeding information about what those gaps are to the convention bureau
so that they can attract the right events.”
She highlighted how Gothenburg looks at gaps and needs, by cross
referencing every single event hosted in the destination, ensuring there
is close alignment with development policies. It also reaches out to
the community to identify areas for improvement and how a particular
event can help.
The panel also explored the challenges and barriers when delivering
impact and legacy, highlighting how impact can be about the intention,
connecting back to purpose and connecting back to values.