In times of restricted mobility: Cancel, change date or change format of tourism conferences

Abstract

The aim of this article is to examine how tourism conference organizers react to the restricted mobility incurred by the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Do they cancel, change format, or change date for the event? This study contributes to an initial analysis of how organizers of international academic conferences in the tourism and hospitality industry deal with whole groups of participants who are no longer mobile and therefore cannot actively network personally. This uniquely compiled data covers a large representative number of conferences in this field. A Multinomial Logit model is used to estimate the options available. Data are based on unique information on almost 100 conferences, meetings, and congresses in the tourism and hospitality sector, including related fields such as leisure and recreation, planned to be held during the period of March to November 2020. Descriptive evidence shows that approximately one out of five conferences changes to a virtual format, somewhat more than half moves the date (mainly to the year 2021), and the remaining 25% cancel the event without alternative offers. Estimation results reveal that the decision to change to an online format increases nonlinearly over time in the form of an inverse U-shaped curve. This indicates a certain resistance to virtual conferences, although with more time for planning, a gradual adaptation to the actual situation appears to be possible. Longer conferences are less likely to change format. The probability of cancellations is lower for association conferences, which are held regularly.