Citing a survey where 80% of meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) respondents stated they would include virtual elements in future events, Noor Zari said young people need to keep abreast with technology to keep up with market trends.

Noor Zari was part of a panel of MICE experts from the Asia-Pacific region who spoke about the lasting impact of the pandemic on the industry, and the lessons they had learned about holding conferences in the future.

“The events and MICE industry will keep going, but it will depend on conferences to decide whether they want to do it physically, virtually, or a hybrid of the two,” he told a forum organised by the Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB).

Addressing the industry’s post Covid-19 outlook for new graduates, Noor Zari said staying on top of new communications technology will allow students to grow with the industry while enabling them to circumvent new challenges posed by restrictions on travel and group size.

Tina Altieri, founder and principal managing partner of Media Australasia Xchange, said she found the shift to digitalisation has forced people not usually comfortable with presentations to adapt as they were called upon to conduct virtual events.

She said this would be key as more international conferences begin to require virtual presentation skills even when travel is allowed.

The panel was part of the Malaysia Business Events Week’s Meet in Malaysia conference, organised by MyCEB to discuss how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected their plans and how they have adjusted.