As part of a report by “Global Governments” in partnership with “PricewaterhouseCoopers”

3 main scenarios for major events in the “post-pandemic” world

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The World Government Summit Foundation confirmed in a knowledge report entitled "Transformations required for the success of major events in the post-Covid-19 period", launched in partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers, that the way in which major events and events were held before "Covid-19". It won't necessarily return, and regulators will have to plan for a hybrid future.

He pointed to three main options for cities hosting mega events, explaining that major events and events that play a pivotal and vital role in the global economy, stand in front of new challenges that require city and government leaders to rethink and design the future path, for their success in the post-Covid-19 pandemic world. Because of its vital role in spreading knowledge and culture and improving the economy and the quality of life of peoples.

The report called for redrawing scenarios for city management mechanisms for mega events in the future, in anticipation of any emergency facing this sector, whose value reaches nearly one trillion dollars annually, noting that the lessons learned from events such as the Olympic events, Hajj or economic conferences due to the pandemic, It is imperative to increase reliance on smart technical solutions.

He stressed that mega-events need more flexibility to continue in the post-Covid-19 era, with an effective approach for host cities and planners to become dynamic and fast in the planning process, ensuring their ability to provide a mixture of real and virtual experiences.

The report indicated that technology will be a key tool for launching and manufacturing mega events with the best combination of capability, impact and safety for host cities and countries, and that the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution will be able to provide much-needed flexibility to match event objectives with optimal social, economic and sustainability outcomes for years to come.

Deputy Director of the Foundation, Muhammad Yousef Al-Sharhan, stressed that "the World Government Summit has strengthened its global position as a platform for government knowledge, which contributes to enhancing the flexibility and preparedness of governments for various future challenges, and supporting their work in developing proactive plans that enable them to cross them easily and quickly, and take advantage of the opportunities they provide." .

He said, "The world is witnessing a rapid transformation towards holding major events and mega events that need to adopt a pivotal change in current business models, enhance the uses of technology and develop current policies, and various strategies to reach the best scenario for the future event industry."

For his part, Hazem Galal, partner and global leader of the city and local government sector at PwC, and author of the report, Hazem Galal, said: “In a post-Covid-19 world, mega-events will evolve using technologies that deliver rich, secure and personalized experiences.”

According to the report, it is expected that by 2030, events that combine personal and virtual experiences will be the basis, given the shift to fully virtual or hybrid events during the pandemic, as mega events bring an immediate boost to the host city or the country’s economy, attract visitors and contribute to generating job opportunities. It also facilitates investment in infrastructure, as well as promoting the country's brand.

The report stated that these events can add new landmarks to the experiences of the host countries, by transforming the places that hosted them into tourist attractions after the event, noting that the significant effects caused by “Covid-19” in the field of mega events require a comprehensive change in the event industry. and major events.

He stressed the importance for planners of mega-events to adapt to challenges and changes, and to be more flexible, especially in light of the possibility that hybrid events will become the basis by 2030.

The report indicated that the way large events and events were held before “Covid-19” will not necessarily return, and that organizers should plan for a hybrid future, and pointed out three main options for cities hosting mega events.

According to the first scenario, the host city will follow the event as scheduled, but with restrictions on capacity and stricter operating procedures to reduce challenges.

The report believes that this scenario is fraught with social challenges, but it retains the maximum impact on the economy, and gives events an opportunity to move forward, such as the Hajj season in 2020, where Saudi Arabia followed a cautiously open approach, limiting it to 1,000 people, compared to 2.5 million people in 2019. Wearing a mask was mandatory and the physical distance was 1.5 meters between worshipers. Then, in 2021, the pilgrimage was limited to 60,000 pilgrims, provided that they had received two doses of vaccine for the Corona virus and were between the ages of 18 and 65, and free of any chronic disease.

The second scenario indicated that the host city proceeds with the event with significant restrictions, in addition to providing an enhanced virtual show, and the implications of this are generally positive, as it provides maximum entertainment, enhances personal and virtual access to events, and diversifies viewers' choices. The report identified Expo 2020 Dubai” is a model for this scenario, where 2,500 entities and institutions of online travel agents, tour operators, hotel groups and airlines, certified sellers of tickets, which embodies the confidence enjoyed by both event organizers and visitors in this global event with the help of high vaccination rates, which allowed Dubai Opening up to tourists, with planners using the time created by postponing the event, to work on improving the virtual experience.

The last scenario focuses on the host city making the scheduled event completely virtual, and one of the results of this scenario is that it is the safest and most environmentally friendly due to the low rate of travel, but it is ineffective in sports or religious events, and presents new risks that must be mitigated, through security measures Strong cyberspace, such as the World Economic Forum where the virtual Davos Agenda meeting was held in January over five days to facilitate access to a wider audience, the forum introduced the option of digital membership for the first time and this may be a permanent option for future events.

The report indicated that whether it is dealing with a huge event with a long history interrupted by the epidemic or launching a new event, assessing the right approach may seem daunting, and there are some precedents that can be based on from previous epidemic experiences, for example, international cooperation has been able to hold The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics during the H1N1 pandemic, and the 2016 Rio Olympics during the Zika virus outbreak.

The report indicated that there are technologies that can be usefully applied if they are combined in the right way, regarding the three basic challenges: crowd management, public health, and physical and cyber security, calling for the development of reliance on smart solutions such as facial recognition software and Internet of things sensors (to track crowd density). across somewhere), and public health technology solutions include data dashboards to collect real-time public health data, symptom-based case identification and broad access to community-based and self-testing, while automating and accelerating reporting to public health databases.

The report indicated that event planners will need to consider integrating cybersecurity and physical security measures, given that digitization exists in both the real and virtual world, where cybersecurity is critical to any online system.

• «What the Olympic events, Hajj and conferences have been exposed to due to the pandemic, necessitates increased reliance on smart technical solutions».

• “Future scenarios for mega events and events are traditional, hybrid and hypothetical.”


• «The report called for redrawing future scenarios for how cities would deal with mega-events».

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