Virtual events industry expected to rise to $774 trillion by 2030

Companies, businesses, and brands have all taken their events into the realm of cyberspace with no signs of slowing down, as the world continues to face the woes of the global health pandemic.

As such, waves of startups and SMEs that are helping people create and participate in those experiences are witnessing a surge in attention and funding.

Trends Exchange reports that the global events industry is up against its most significant test since the Great Recession and will rely heavily on making the tough transition toward virtual events to survive.

“Entertainment-related events are making a natural transition to virtual, (for example) Instagram Live events like Quarantine Radio and Verzuz Battles are bringing in concurrent viewership of upwards of 500,000 people. They’re pushing the upper limits of virtual events. How this success translates to the professional setting is still very much to be determined,” said Harrison Terry, Future Thinker at Trends Exchange.

COVID-19 will stunt this projected 10 percent year-over-year growth in the events industry as they must transition to virtual means to cut costs, comply with new safety standards, and continue to exist post-pandemic.

Based on Grand View Research projections, virtual events will grow nearly ten-fold over the next decade from $78 billion to $774 billion.

The trajectory of conferences and exhibitions, corporate events and seminars, promotions and fundraisers, music and art performances, sports, festivals, trade shows, and product launches will rely heavily on virtual event planners and software.

In 2020 alone, virtual events software companies are fundraising large rounds.

Some companies define a future where conferences, networking events, corporate seminars, festivals, trade shows, and more occur on a laptop in attendee homes, not in large conference centers. But it’s no easy feat.

Eventbrite secured $225 million in funding, while Bevy.com and Run The World each secured $15 million; in parallel, Hopin raised $6.5 million, and Airmeet raised $3 million, in early series funding rounds.

According to Oxford Economics and Events Industry Council, the event planning business makes $325 billion of direct spending in the U.S. and helps support more than 5.9 million jobs annually.

It is worth mentioning that prior to the pandemic, Allied Market Research predicted the global events industry, valued at $1.1 trillion in 2018, would grow to $2.3 trillion by 2026.