Sustainability

• Concerns around climate change and the environment will continue to affect how events are planned, so as to reduce the carbon footprint they generate.
• Currently, the carbon footprint of a typical event includes travel (73%), food and beverage (12%), accommodations (11%), venue (3%), and materials and waste (1%).
• This shift towards more sustainable events would manifest in different ways, including:
•  Sourcing local produce for catering
• Offering more plant-based options 
• "Replacing plastic bottles and cutlery with biodegradable alternatives"
•  Giving leftover food to charities

• Furthermore, in 2020 and beyond, the concept would be extended to include "diversity, inclusion, modern slavery, and even data privacy."

Non-Traditional and Unique Venue Experience

•  90% of event planners reckon that events are less likely to be booked in traditional and conventional places such as hotels than five years ago.
• Additionally, "53% of event planners surveyed said moving away from hotel venues and to more unique venues was the biggest location trend of 2020."
• In this regard, venues such as gardens, museums, art galleries, warehouses, barns, and coworking spaces are increasingly becoming more popular.
• This growing trend is also prompting hotels to add non-traditional spaces to their structures to adapt to this trend. Types of spaces added by hotels include rooftops and outdoor venues.
• The availability of ride-sharing innovation is one of the key drivers of this trend, as they have "made it more practical to host events outside of the typical downtown venues."
• An after-effect of this trend is the growth of the venue sourcing software market as event planners seek more unique options for their events.