1164 | 234 | Sustainable event management practices in the business events industry: Evidence from Hungary

Business events play an essential role in sharing knowledge and professional practices, and bringing different regions and cultures closer together. The sector is an essential part and driver of the knowledge economy, but the Covid19 pandemic and the political and economic crises that followed have fundamentally changed the business events industry. As a consequence, certain trends have been reinforced, such as the sustainable approach underlying this research. As a result of the travel restrictions and event bans imposed to contain the Covid19 pandemic, the number of in-person business events in Hungary dropped significantly in 2020 and 2021. With the restart of business events in the Hungarian market, there is a new demand from clients to organise sustainable business events. The goal of this research is to identify the axioms of the link between sustainability and business events from the perspective of event organisers by analysing the theoretical background and building on it through empirical research. The main research question of the study is: How can a sustainable approach be implemented by event organisers in the planning and management phases of business events in Hungary? In order to answer this research question, in-depth interviews with experts were conducted, which describe the sustainability issues in the process of business event management from the perspective of Hungarian event organisers. The experience of event organisers is key, as they are the ones who are aware of the extent to which the needs of their clients are sustainable and how sustainability-related requests can be addressed and implemented. The empirical findings of this research contribute to the knowledge of the business events market and the managerial implications are of practical use.

Kitti Boros
Institute of Sustainable Development, Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary

ID Abstract: 234

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