Business Travel Surge Playing Key Role in Event Tech Bubble Burst – For Now

The “recoil” in demand for in-person meetings is hitting event technology platforms and contributing to the current downturn, experts argue — with some organizers intentionally switching them off. But there are still plenty of reasons why businesses should refrain from pulling the plug altogether.

Virtual event platforms including Hopin and Bizzabo have been laying off hundreds of employees in recent weeks, after raising hundreds of millions of dollars during the pandemic.

Even Zoom, the go-to platform for Covid-stricken businesses, has seen almost 40 percent wiped off its share price in the past six months.

Part of the slump is down to the rebound in corporate travel. Spending on conferences, as a share of overall business travel spend, is expected to be up 4 percentage points in 2022 compared to 2019, according to the Global Business Travel Association.

"Virtual events were an absolute necessity during the pandemic, but after more than a year of communicating through a screen we have seen corporates reintroduce in-person events as part of their event mix," said Suzanne Neufang, CEO of the association.

The amount of virtual events hosted by CWT — one of the largest corporate travel agencies — has de