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MEET IN EDICIÓN ESPECIAL FERIAS 2022 / SPECIAL EDITION SHOWS 2022 INTRO
After many months of tribulations, the longed-awaited nor-
mality, whatever it may be, appears to have returned to society
and, by extension, to the sectors of travel, events, and meet-
ings.With many companies and institutions still in recovery, it
is now time to get up and enter the competition arena again.In
this special, MeetIN brings together the best proposals
from the main destinations in Spain and Portugal, which have
given their all.ey are aware that there is money to spend
and are eager to do so, are rearming themselves with what will
become the three key concepts relevant in the near future –ap-
propriate security measures, eective technological resources,
and sustainability, which is a sacred word to recite.ese three
trends were already present before the pandemic, which has
now made them indispensable.
F
or those who like comparisons, the last two years have
been a veritable treasure trove. e beginning of
has remained in the minds of professionals as the last
month before disaster struck, with the industry still
going at full sail.In fact, the industry was not merely sailing
the proverbial seas, but also soaring, although the truth is
that in the distance, there were already the threatening
clouds of coronavirus.Perhaps, the ship was sailing across
the ocean too quickly, without taking into account the
strain placed on the rigging.is notion is left to guesswork
and a posteriori analysis with the perspective that provides
the temporal distance and tension that are already at man-
ageable levels.
e doctors of this church will tell us whether humanity
has come out better from a pandemic that, today, is more or
less under control, whether ethics and morality have gained
as much as anticipated by the senses, as well as by the some-
times-excessive advertising spots.
But what we’re talking about here is an industry, MICE and
Business Travel. Like a predictable phoenix, the sector has
risen from its pandemic ashes and has begun to y again,
with vigor... but it is no longer the same. Something has
changed. If there is something positive that the global health
alert has brought, or at least something not very negative, it
is the emergence of new concepts. It has also served as a cat-
alyst for changes that were already sensed, but that have ar-
rived suddenly, breaking the dam of the natural evolution of
the market.
Now, it is time to nd the keys to a dierent market, for
better or worse, albeit dierent, while simultaneously con-
rming the industry’s resurgence during this interwar peri-
od, for joy and optimism, but also for the fallen.
Based on evidence from the eld and the mouths of indus-
try agents, we could point out three key concepts –post-pan-
demic safety, technology growth, and sustainability, which is
the new global mantra. ere will be nuances or specica-
tions specic to each sector or market, but the future “” is
coming our way.
SECURITY: THE LOSS OF INVINCIBILITY
Similar to a biblical story or a fable by Aesop, human beings
have learned from the blow of the –or worse– that, rst-
ly, they are not the most powerful beings on Earth and, sec-
ondly, that globalization globalizes the good –information,
markets, culture– but also the bad. Have we learned our les-
son? e chronicles say no, as per usual, but what has been
established is a new protocol of life, a new way of relating to
others marked by security measures and social distance.
e positive side of globalization has made it possible to
generate vaccines in record time and to establish health pro-
tocols that can be extrapolated to virtually the entire planet,
which was something unthinkable only a hundred years ago
when the Spanish u claimed millions of lives.Moreover, this
is going to mark the world for a long time.An example is
a study by Concur, which, among many other data, indi-
cates that companies will establish and comply with strict pro-
tocols for their traveling employees before and after their trips.
e leading measures –quarantines, passports, and cer-
tificates– as well as the use of masks, will be kept up to
date.It goes without saying that the latter, face covering, will
be customary in interior spaces, such as meeting rooms and
means of transport.Obviously, the goal is to ensure the safety
of employees, but also not to harm the industry or torpedo its
recovery.