Dubai will be hosting its first major in-person exhibition of the year – the Arabian Travel Market. It will set the marker on how the city gets back to being the destination of choice for mega-events and more – even with all the guidelines required to keep COVID-19 at bay.
Abu Dhabi has already been on this road, having earlier this year hosted the biennial IDEX (International Defence Exhibition). So, as the UAE and its destinations prepare for a return of in-person events, what would it mean for the virtual exhibition business?
In the second-half of 2020, 3D-based virtual events were all the rage, and it was felt that these would be around well after the world bids farewell to all vestiges of the COVID-19. Have virtual events outlived their use too soon?
Mohammed Tayem, founder and CEO of eve virtual, which is a heavy hitter in anything that’s three-dimensional, is not too concerned about all that negative chatter. That’s because there’s always going to be a place for hybrid events, even after the pandemic.
“Live events play a major role in the economy of the GCC region, especially UAE and Saudi,” said Tayem. “With the current situation, we have seen demand for virtual events grow rapidly; but people have been introduced to hybrid events. Now, the hybrid format is playing a major role in demonstrating the importance of reach and conversion.
Even at next week’s ATM 2021, there will be a hybrid component, with the conferences following the exhibitions adopting the virtual format. In that regard, Tayem’s contention of hybrid options sitting alongside in-person events rings true.
The virtual hosting platform launched in July last year, and proved an effective replacement for the video conferencing tools that were in peak deployment at the time. With eve, ‘attendees’ could simulate an event environment. On eve, from the registration to the actual sessions, all of the activity is done within a 3D virtual environment with personalized avatars and integrated communication tools.
“The key difference is how to utilize a technology you have developed and start enhancing it to cater to other businesses and the future. eve, when it started, was meant to have the 3D environment as a cutting-edge, but today caters not just events. Recently, we launched holographic presentations to make the speakers presentations more engaging for the audiences.
source:gulfnews.com
