With the advent of COVID several years ago, medical communications companies and BioPharma companies alike have had to adapt to a more distributed workforce, mitigate personnel burnout, work to retain top talent, and navigate uncertainty with client demands. At the same time, virtual events are leveling out and demand for in-person events are rebounding.
Here’s what you need to know to continue to navigate through these challenges and prepare to train your speakers in person or seek insight from advisors:
People crave connection and collaboration. The reason the rebound has been so pronounced is that studies have shown people benefit from in-person communication. One Stanford study found that in-person teams generate 15% to 20% more ideas than virtual ones. While virtual meetings can help teams stay connected, in-person meetings allow for deeper, more meaningful relationships to grow. According to a survey by Harvard Business Review, 95% of people say face-to-face meetings are key to successful long-term relationships in the workforce.
To address this in what’s become a largely remote environment for collaborating with advisors and speakers, BioPharma clients are seeking in-person meetings as important opportunities to ideate with experts, improve education of content, and inspire a sense of community with speakers on bureaus and Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) on advisory boards.
Travel costs continue to skyrocket. We’ve all seen summer travel soar, and hotel and airfares have escalated in tandem. Hotel room rates in many major cities around the world are expected to continue their skyward climb — rising by double-digit percentages in many place, according to the Hotel Monitor 2024, a forecast from American Express Global Business Travel (aka Amex GBT). Global airfares are predicted to rise between 3%-7% in 2024, as airlines grapple with high fuel costs, sustainability changes and fleet upgrades, according to the FCM Consulting’s “Global Trend Report” for the third quarter of 2023. However, several other reports anticipate that flight prices will soften and even drop slightly in 2024.
Hotels are restructuring their offerings. Not only have costs increased, but the pandemic has altered the way hotels structure some of their offerings relating to staffing models and supply chain issues. Nowadays, many hotels offer a different scope of services than pre-pandemic, including evolving food and beverage options, shorter service hours, changes in room service, housekeeping, restaurant availability, and hours of operating for on-site offerings.
Event space is at a premium. Most challenging will be the limited or nonexistent event space availability. The hotel industry’s demand for in-person meetings has surpassed the 2019 volume. Warmer climates in Florida, Louisiana, Las Vegas, and Arizona were the first to return to accommodate this surge, and now New York, Chicago, and San Francisco are close behind.
With so much happening in the travel space now, what can you do? Our recommendation is to plan as early as you can in order to lock in rates and availability with both flights and hotels. At the same time, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in advisors and speakers wanting to collaborate in person. Seize this opportunity to meet them where they are. There will always be availability if you have flexibility in your destination, but if you’re looking for a particular spot for your in-person meetings, plan well in advance.
Above all, work with a medical communications partner who understands how to keep the lines of communication open with hotels and airlines and can seamlessly manage all aspects of your in-person event, so you can focus on what’s most important.
