Article actual date: Dec 22, 2020

Overview

TravelRevive 2020 was the first hybrid MICE industry trade show to be held in Singapore under the newly developed hybrid event trade show prototype for safe business events. Powered by ITB Asia & Singapore Tourism Board (STB), the 2-day event was part of efforts to maintain Singapore’s visibility as a tourism destination and facilitate networking for local travel trade during these trying times. The event sought to provide a platform that trials safe business events as well as safe itineraries and pave the way for the future of MICE events in Singapore. TravelRevive was in fact the first of its kind in Asia Pacific with international attendees since the beginning of the global pandemic, a crucial step towards bringing back more exhibitions and trade shows locally.

This hybrid event organised by Messe Berlin (SG) provided a glimpse of Singapore’s progress in the reopening of business events, and also gave the attendees a feel of a safe and personalised experience. To adhere to the safety measures, attendees had to be separated into cohorts of 20 and interactions were limited across groups. On top of that, everyone who was involved in the event was provided TraceTogether tokens in order to facilitate contact tracing.

With star-studded panels for conference sessions, well-executed exhibitions, and business matching opportunities through pre-scheduled 1:1 meetings, TravelRevive was a massive success for everyone involved. We are proud and thankful for the opportunity to be the technology partner chosen to power the business matching experience, allowing for trade visitors, buyers and exhibitors to have meaningful meetings that we are sure will develop into prosperous business relationships. The event was also complemented with virtual conference sessions that allows for a wider global audience to connect with the regional travel businesses.

Attendees had the vital opportunity to meet a huge variety of relevant exhibitors and search for potential prospects. Everyone also had the chance to reconnect with one another, exchange ideas and reimagine the future of travel, especially after such a long time of not being able to see each other in person.

Even though there were strict rules and regulations that were put into place, TravelRevive still managed to host close to 1,000 total attendees, including 65 foreign delegates from 14 different countries.

The Solution: Jublia Hybrid

Majority of the event took place onsite, the team at Jublia was responsible for managing and facilitating business matching activities that were happening at the event itself. Jublia Match 360 was implemented to create an end-to-end experience that was able to effectively satisfy the attendees 1:1 meetings needs, with many of these meetings resulting in buyers and exhibitors making deals and plans together for the year ahead.

There were a total of 36 exhibition booths which were set up, however, due to the strict regulations being put into place, each booth only allowed for 1 individual to be stationed at any point of time. Each exhibitor also got their dedicated meeting pod to take discussions further. These booths and pods were equipped with plexi-glass panels, which enabled physical interactions to be held safely.

We are proud to share that the majority of the attendees were satisfied with the capability to discover and arrange meetings with relevant attendees through our platform. This is evident as the average customer satisfaction score for the event was 4.1/5. In addition to that, more than 75% of the attendees were satisfied with the ability to match pre-event. These statistics once again proved our capabilities in delivering success and powering a successful hybrid event.

Feedback

I like how easy it was to toggle within the portal, as it allows me to arrange meetings conveniently.

- Far East Hospitality (Exhibitor)

I was able to effectively access the availability of attendees after receiving the meeting requests, which allowed for an instant confirmation.

- Tradewinds Tours & Travel Pte Ltd (Buyer)

The entire set-up (both virtual + onsite) was fantastic. There was always immediate assistance being rendered throughout the entire event. Major props to the operation team behind this event.

- Furama Hotels Singapore (Exhibitor)

I really enjoyed using this platform as it allows for an easy and concise way to access all the attendees at the event.

- Knowcross (Trade Visitor)

Conclusion

All in all, being able to attend a hybrid event again after such a long time made us all reminisce about the physical interaction that is vital in all trade shows. TravelRevive was the first of its kind, and we anticipate more of such events to happen in the near future. Events like this is definitely crucial in helping attendees to gradually transition back to the type of events that they were used to. We would like to thank Messe Berlin for this partnership which turned out to be a huge success!

As we are counting down the days left to a new year, we are also proud to share that in the previous month, we managed to surpass over 1 million meeting minutes! We are humbled by the support and we aim to continue to deliver even better results in the upcoming year. If you are thinking of hosting an upcoming event in 2021 and would like to know how Jublia can power your event, feel free to reach out to us at info@jublia.com! We have made it our primary responsibility to help every single event organiser to transition to digital formats, especially during these critical times.