Alistair Turner, on behalf of the National Outdoor Events Association (NOEA), reflects on how 2024 will be viewed in the future.
How will we look back on 2024? As a live events industry, it’s difficult, despite so much to the contrary, to look at the year in any other way than positively.
This is despite so many businesses that continue to struggle, so many relationships under pressure, and the continuation of events being cancelled or suffering long term postponement. It comes despite the industry still struggling to find appropriate reward for the creativity and risk its entrepreneurs take.
At NOEA though, we must take the broader view, and look beyond the plight, both negative and positive, of our individual members, and look at the wider perspective of the industry. The fact remains, the industry is on the up.
Equally, all the indicators, from consumer behaviours and demographic patterns, show that the industry will also continue to grow.
It may well be entering a golden age, the experience generation is maturing, people want to enjoy shared experiences. Tickets are being bought, investment is flooding in, there is growth.
Let’s not ignore this positivity. Over the last few years there has been so little to enjoy, we need to celebrate our success when we can. However (yes, there is always a ‘however’), in an age of diversity, equity and inclusion, we need to make sure that this growth is equitable. The industry, by and large, is in growth, but is this growth fair?
At NOEA, over the last few years, one of our primary focuses has been around talent; attraction and retention. But this also applies to audiences as well. How are they growing, where is the growth, and are we retaining as well as attracting new audiences? How diverse are we, both in the professionals that run our events, and the people that attend them?
Inflation and the ever-growing costs of puttingevents on is putting fiscal pressure on ticket prices. There is a genuine concern at NOEA that, as tickets become a luxury we are losing cultural and societal diversity. That we are alienating younger, less affluent audiences and are in danger of a ‘lost’ generation of event attendees.
These are tricky problems for an industry, only just starting to see growth after so much suffering, to deal with. It requires incentives put together in the right places. It isn’t just about reducing costs, it’s about creating the right events, at the right scale, for the right audiences.
This is a major challenge, and a critical one. It will define the industry in the long term. It could be one of the most important things we do.