Destination Meetings are Starting to Occur Again; Some Lessons Learned
SCP’s The Growth Monitor
Several large conferences, as well as smaller meetings and events, have taken place around the country in a kind of “test case” scenario, according to the online resource BizBash. Each of the events described by BizBash were successfully produced and with no follow-on COVID-19 cases reported. Of course, each of the gatherings took place with intense safety measures in place.
These recent events are extremely helpful to economic development professionals around the U.S. and around the world. Most metro areas count on the meetings industry and its ancillary hotels and resorts, transportation, F&B, and off-site activities, to provide local employment and tax revenues.
Professional meeting planners are quickly adapting and embracing safe meeting practices, and taking advantage of emerging “lessons learned” from first efforts. With this backdrop we believe that metro areas accustomed to hosting destination meetings, re-starting this important economic activity is possible.
The BizBash article is a must-read for anyone wanting confidence to get their event scheduling underway. The September 2, 2020 post at BizBash.com is available here: Meetings Are Still Happening Around the Country. Here’s What They Look Like.
DCT Abu Dhabi has Plans for “Safe Zone” Areas to Host Visitor Events
SCP’s The Growth Monitor
Encouraged by the success of UFC Fight Island, the Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT Abu Dhabi) is planning a “safe zone” strategy for hosting visitor events. The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event at Yas Island was a success for Abu Dhabi, which provided for a “safe zone” that hosted approximately 2,500 people over five weeks on Yas Island.
The safe zone program may be an approach for other visitor destinations looking to revitalize their tourism industries. Las Vegas may have some suitable properties if not areas of The Strip where this could be workable; at this time Las Vegas is seeking to recover with virtually no convention-related business. A tall order.
A helpful overview of the tourism strategy was provided by Arabian Business in an August 31, 2020 post.
New Research Reveals “Key Drivers” to Propel Urban Economies
AEC’s Growth Monitor
Researchers at Northwestern University have just published some interesting research, about “The universal pathway to innovative urban economies.” The researchers analyzed industrial employment and population changes in 350 U.S. cities between 1998 and 2013, including over 100 million workers.
Key conclusions from the research include an observation that innovative economies start to emerge when an urban population reaches about 1.2 million people. Along with this scale inference, the researchers noted that the transition to an innovative economy depends upon a a city’s ability to attract and retain certain “superlinear industries.” Superlinear industries include the arts, entertainment, professional services, science, and information technology, each of which can grow out of proportion to underlying population growth.
As reported in SciTechDaily, one of the researchers wonders if the remote work promulgated by the COVID-19 virus and distancing may slow down the rate of innovation, in general. The thinking is that innovation may require the spontaneous and serendipitous insights that come with incidental human interactions. This insight certainly rings true for those that have managed collaborative and creative teams; sometimes the best ideas emerge even as the linear ideation and problem-solving proceeds.
An excellent review of the research is available at SciTechDaily, HERE. The research as published is available for full review on the website of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, by clicking here: AAAS Research – The Universal Pathway to Innovative Urban Economies.