The respondents were presented three scenarios for their reflection: 1) whether or not their corporations would
invest time and money in organizing conferences and exhibitions ; 2) whether saving time and costs would be a
concern for their corporations in allowing their staff to travel to conferences and exhibitions and 3) whether their
corporations would invest money in alternatives to conferences and exhibitions. The results revealed that, for
scenario 1, most of the respondents expected organizations to maintain a strong commitment to live events with
74% stating it was likely or very likely that “compared to today, in 2020, my company/organization will still invest
at least as much time and money in organizing conferences and exhibiting at trade shows as they do at present”.
This scenario, however, gained more support from those in the meeting industry than those outside it. As for
scenario 2, more respondents from outside the industry (57%) than the 43% of those within the industry believed
that “compared to today, in 2020, my company/organization will be unwilling to allow staff to travel to as many
conferences and exhibitions in order to save time and money”. Finally, a majority of the respondents (59%) chose
to agree that it was likely or very likely that “by 2020, my company/organization will be investing far more money
in alternatives to conferences and exhibitions than they do today.” This was supported 71% by those outside the
sector compared to only 51% within it.