Posted on May 17, 2024
Events sponsored by brands and organizations have been around for quite a while. However, with the rise of virtual events, and remote work, more options are available to prospective attendees who are looking to participate in these happenings.
Whether you’re hosting an event for entertainment, education, networking, or anything in these realms, it’s important to make your event stand out from others by creating memorable attendee journeys. You can do this by staying on top of event and hospitality trends.
In this article, we’ll cover the top 8 hospitality trends for creating memorable attendee journeys at events in 2024 and beyond.
1. Opting for Hybrid or Virtual Attendance
Although the pandemic forced the rapid shift towards virtual events, the flexible attendance options of fully digital and hybrid events continue to trend in hospitality. That’s because opening attendance to virtual participation continues to provide many benefits to hosts and guests alike.
For starters, using, virtual assistants and having virtual event attendance is much more affordable for guests. It removes the need to travel to the event, which is a significant cost for many. Plus, accommodating virtual guests is much more cost-effective for event planners, so tickets can be sold at a lower price. This is a win-win for everybody involved.
Furthermore, cutting out the need for travel by offering online attendance makes an event much more accessible to attendees around the world. You can even create a website to promote your virtual event worldwide. In addition to the cost aspect, it removes obstacles like visas and passports, lack of PTO, or personal commitments that may stand in the way of people attending.
2. Creating Eco-Friendly Experiences
Recent reports demonstrate the importance of environmental consciousness among the majority of consumers. As an event planner, it’s crucial to tap into this trend by hosting eco-friendly experiences at your event.
You can make your event more eco-friendly with these sustainable practices:
- Incorporating more sustainable dining habits (using reusable plates/utensils, offering more plant-based options, etc.)
- Offering more intentional favors and swag
- Using digital pamphlets and signage
- Opting for an eco-friendly venue
- Avoiding single-use items
Read more about sustainable event practices in our dedicated guide.
3. Creating Innovative Technology
Staying ahead of the curve in the event space is only possible if you create technology to improve your attendee journeys. With that in mind, there are quite a few technologies that you should explore.
For starters, leveraging event registration software can help streamline the guest experience from the time they purchase the ticket until check-in.
AI is also becoming prevalent in the event industry, especially when it comes to marketing the event. Generative AI can help you create copy and visual elements for your marketing assets.
4. Offering On-Demand Playback
Offering on-demand playback of your event is a great way to provide more value to participants, especially if your event is educational. By providing access to the talks and workshops from the event after it’s ended, attendees can revisit topics that they are interested in or those that they may not have grasped the first time around.
Some event hosts also offer on-demand recordings of the event to those who couldn’t attend live for a nominal fee. This is a great way to boost your revenue from the event without much extra work.
5. Leaning into Data and Analytics
Session replay technology helps create memorable guest experiences at events by providing organizers with valuable insights into attendees’ digital interactions and behaviors.
By analyzing session replay data, organizers can identify areas for improvement in the event’s digital platforms, such as registration websites or mobile apps. You can optimize user interfaces, streamline the registration process, and enhance navigation to ensure a seamless and enjoyable digital experience for attendees.
With this knowledge, you can tailor the event program to match attendees’ expectations better, offering relevant and engaging sessions, workshops, and networking opportunities.
6. Creating Personalized Experiences
Creating personalized experiences that reflect your guests’ interests and preferences will help keep people engaged.
One way to add personal touches to your event experience is to send a pre-event questionnaire to gauge interest in different topics and find out what your attendees want to take away from the experience.
Another crucial element of creating experiences is analyzing the data collected from session replays (as mentioned above).
Understanding this information empowers event organizers to optimize digital experiences, personalize content, and address attendee needs. Taking the time to review this data ultimately contributes to the creation of memorable and impactful attendee journeys.
7. Making Experiences Immersive
Incorporating immersive experiences is a great way for event planners to engage attendees more effectively and make the event more memorable.
In addition to the standard workshops and lectures, it’s wise to host segments that get the guests involved to make things more exciting and collaborative.
Some immersive experiences could be hands-on demos, Q&As, or other interactive activities that guests may not expect. Even in professional settings geared toward adults, it’s also entirely appropriate to incorporate some sort of games or playful activities, especially as icebreakers or mid-day breaks.
8. Incorporating Health and Wellness
Even in professional spaces, we’re seeing an increased focus on health and wellness. This ranges from gyms in the workplace to company-wide mental health days. Event organizers are wise to harness this positive trend to shape the experiences at their events.
Incorporating health and wellness practices and activities into your event is an excellent way to improve the guest experience. This could be as simple as encouraging attendees to participate in a midday stretch or offering a juice bar at the start of the day.
Some event planners take this a step further by offering meditation sessions, massages, and other wellness practices at the event. The goal is to encourage guests to reset and refocus.
Final Thoughts
Staying on top of hospitality trends is a sure path to creating memorable experiences for your event’s guests. By incorporating some of the practices we’ve covered in this guide, you can make events more immersive and engaging.
Looking for the best technology to power your event? Book a call with an event expert from the InEvent team to learn if our platform is right for you.
Kelly Moser is the co-founder and editor at Home & Jet, a digital magazine for the modern era. She’s also the content manager at Login Lockdown, covering the latest trends in tech, business and security. Kelly is an expert in freelance writing and content marketing for SaaS, Fintech, and ecommerce startups.
About the Author / Ana Almeida
