Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) is working to help clients save their events through a hybrid model that enables them to combine physical and virtual elements.
The venue is ready for a phased return to hosting events after the Covid-19 lockdown forced EICC to close on 18 March and cancel its spring schedule.
But through its Make It Edinburgh Live plan, the EICC team is helping organisations and businesses to host their events entirely online or via a combination of online and at the venue. Many events have been rescheduled towards the end of the year and the first half of 2021.
EICC chief executive Marshall Dallas said: “Following extensive and ongoing dialogue with our client base, including over 100 UK and international associations and companies, what we’ve discovered is there is still strong demand for conferences and events taking place at the venue whenever that is going to be possible.
"In the meantime, which we hope will be the short-term, we have launched the hybrid virtual model for holding events as a bridge to that phased in return.
“It’s notable that we are seeing this kind of phase-in approach in the business events sector in other countries, including Germany and China, in no small part, in spite of the inherent challenges, because of how big a contributor business events are to national economies.
"There is a clear distinction to be made between business events and large gatherings. In a controlled manner, in a sanitised conference venue environment managed by event industry professionals, we believe there is a safe way to phase conferences back in.”
