The Coronavirus has been affecting the live events industry, making companies turn towards virtual events to make up for the inability to have in-person interactions. In this article, we will present solutions for live events that may be facing a downturn in ticket sales. We will discuss how events in our Marketplace can combat the new issues of ticket sales and grapple the virtual event realm. Live events can create virtual components, such as virtual expos, events, and conferences, and other features that will help to overcome attendance challenges presented by the Coronavirus.
Learn how EventHub helps to increase partnership revenue and streamline sponsor/vendor management.
How is the Coronavirus Affecting Live Events?
“I don’t think people are so concerned about mass congregating,” Peter I’anson, of SecureMyBooking.com, which is a ticketing insurance website, told CNBC. “I think they have a fear of traveling and don’t want to be in a small enclosed area with people.”
As a result, travel prices are way down, shares of Live Nation and the S&P 500 overall are down. Travel to many parts of Asia has been restricted. Many travelers coming from parts of China to other parts of the world have been facing quarantine. Until the spread of the disease begins to slow down, the restrictions are not going away anytime soon.
Solutions for Overcoming Challenges of Coronavirus
While it may seem like the only option an organizer has is to cancel, there are some other alternatives that can be explored. The most innovative option for keeping an event afloat is to add virtual components.
Due to travel restrictions and the spread of the coronavirus live events have vanished, with virtual events becoming a necessity in order to stay afloat. Event planning must be rethought to allow for accessible virtual networking through resources such as EventHub’s vendor village. EventHub provides events with a virtual resource for generating conferences, expos, and like-minded events in which vendors and sponsors can network with customers and inform them on their product.
Adding Virtual Components at Live Events
One way to adapt to the virtual shift is to offer more virtual components, like EventHub’s virtual vendor village. As event tech adoption becomes accelerated, there are a variety of ways to add virtual elements. Live streaming has already become wildly popular amongst most major music festivals and many large expos. Even a simple Facebook Live can do the trick. In turn, the virtual event could even attract a whole new audience by implementing these options. An event could create a virtual only ticket or work with a sponsor to offer this at no additional charge. These new features can grow a new revenue stream in the process. Overall, it’s turning a potential negative into a positive.
Many endurance races already offer virtual participation in their race for those who can’t make the trip. Some endurance organizations with series of races even have people who do their races part virtually and part in-person, or even entirely virtually and still earn their full series medal. One of our of customers — North Olympic Discover Marathon — is one of these that offers virtual participation. You can view their “VIRTUAL 5K / 10K / Half Marathon” on their race registration portal.
Utilizing Ticketing Data for the Future of Live Events
Another major concern for many types of events is that with live events vanishing, their customer retention rate will decrease. By creating virtual events, companies have the ability to retain customers and keep them engaged. Not only can virtual events provide for customers, but the ticketing data can be utilized to collect customer data. The customer data, in hand, will grow events customer database for when they transfer back to being live.
With live events seeing the effects of this epidemic, having a virtual plan is key for a successful event. Offering virtual events and utilizing ticketing data are a good way to not only prepare an event for a dip in ticket sales and travel but to also open up new possible streams of revenue.
