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The Changing Face of Events After COVID-19: Initial Reactions and Future Perspectives

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Advances in Tourism, Technology and Systems

Part of the book series: Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies ((SIST,volume 293))

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Abstract

The COVID-19 health crisis has significantly impacted the tourism and events industries, having prompted different responses from stakeholders and decision-makers. Focusing on the initial response from event managers and drawing from their perceptions, this paper outlines the dimensions considered to have been more directly affected by the crisis, analyzing how they shaped event managers’ outlook on the future. In order to provide a comprehensive view, researchers carried out six interviews, having resorted to purposive sampling, as to collect data from managers working with social, corporate, and cultural events. Overall, Operations, Human Resources, and Decision-making stood out as the most relevant dimensions, mostly stemming from the need to act quickly when faced with this unforeseen situation, having had a short- and medium-term impact on recovery prospects. Together with Health and Safety and Customer Relationship Management, these dimensions are expected to play an important role in shaping the future of events, as, in addition to changes regarding the dimension, format, and sustainability, managers anticipate a shift in peoples’ behavior and expectations, which will ultimately affect their experience, calling for different approaches and strategies.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    ASAE—Autoridade para a Segurança Alimentar e Económica (Portuguese Economic and Food Safety Authority).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Polytechnic Institute of Porto, School of Hospitality and Tourism, ESHT, R. R. Dom Sancho I, 4480-876, Vila do Conde, Portugal

    Carla Melo, Sandra Vasconcelos, António Melo & Daniela Meneses

  2. CITUR—Centre for Tourism Research, Development and Innovation, Coimbra, Portugal

    Carla Melo & António Melo

  3. VALORIZA—Research Centre for Endogenous Resource Valorization, Portalegre, Portugal

    Carla Melo

  4. ESTGA—Águeda School of Technology and Management, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    Sandra Vasconcelos & António Melo

  5. CIDTFF—Research Centre on Didactics and Technology in the Education of Trainers, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    Sandra Vasconcelos & António Melo

Authors
  1. Carla Melo
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  2. Sandra Vasconcelos
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  3. António Melo
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  4. Daniela Meneses
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sandra Vasconcelos .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Accounting and Administration of Porto, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    António Abreu

  2. School of Hospitality and Tourism, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Vila do Conde, Portugal

    Dália Liberato

  3. Calle de la Universidad, Universidad de Cartagena, Cartagena de Índias, Colombia

    Juan Carlos Garcia Ojeda

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© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

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Melo, C., Vasconcelos, S., Melo, A., Meneses, D. (2022). The Changing Face of Events After COVID-19: Initial Reactions and Future Perspectives. In: Abreu, A., Liberato, D., Garcia Ojeda, J.C. (eds) Advances in Tourism, Technology and Systems. Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies, vol 293. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1040-1_40

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