Necessity is the mother of invention, they say, and the hospitality industry has led the way in proving this adage right over the past several years. This is even more since the pandemic struck. The challenge of balancing safety without diminishing guest experience has driven the sector to come up with newer ways to kindle a ray of hope amidst dark times.
This is despite the fact that this industry in particular was amongst the worst-hit victims of COVID-19, and the long tail impact is likely to remain for some more months. Events and MICE were always a key revenue driver for the sector, and while this virtually came to a standstill in early 2020, things have started picking up.
Now most people will presume that virtual events were the answer to this dilemma and they aren’t mistaken. However, growing screen fatigue, which is the natural fallout of attending various virtual events for work and pleasure have since lost their appeal and novelty factory. So, what is the answer? Well, it is treading the middle path.
LET’S GO VIGITAL
Vigital solutions like hybrid events that bring together video, virtual and digital technology have helped the hospitality sector find a middle path between physical experiences and social distancing. Hybrid events combine live aspect of an event with a limited number of live speakers and audience members present in a banquet hall/ballroom, high quality video content, and virtual presence from a studio or home/office. All the three elements come together on interactive platforms like Almond Virtex to create a seamless experience for all attendees, no matter where they are.
In case of a hotel where the ballrooms used to be packed before the pandemic, hybrid events can be easily deployed for all kinds of events ranging from conferences to product launches to R&R ceremonies. Interestingly, a few hotel chains have successfully organised hybrid weddings as well with physical ‘pheras’ and virtual blessings from family members dispersed all over the world.
Hybrid mediums also allow for a lot of customisation, creativity and personalisation. Leveraging high-fidelity 3D virtual environments and animations, digital engagement features like augmented reality, and interactive video, every hybrid event can be a made-to-order.
EXHIBITING APPEAL
Not just events, hotels are also bringing back exhibitions in their ballrooms. Combing physical booths and virtual booths, a hybrid expo can be easily organised.
The hybrid exhibitions enable physical audience to access virtual booths, and virtual audience to access physical booths – all in real time. And with the power of data analytics, exhibitors can now get a better measure of ROI.
The hybrid solution enables hospitality clients to organise events with a smaller audience, and in the parallel take the experience to a much larger audience through a customisable and scalable platform.
At a recent corporate event which included keynote sessions, panel discussions, workshops and a sponsors’ exhibition, 50 key guests were invited to the hotel ballroom and a link to the event was sent to 5,000 people across India and the globe. The guests logging through the virtual platform could watch the sessions, interact with speakers, participate in workshops, engage with sponsor/exhibitors and also collect goodies – all through a hybrid platform.
Like every sector, the hospitality sector too has been forced to adapt and while tourism will be back slow and steady, events can be brought back immediately with a cautious mix of physical and virtual. For an industry that has always been quick to adopt business technologies, it will not be surprising to see more hotels go the vigital way.
