MeetDenmark, the Danish business events association, has published a report on the learnings from six years of researching and
testing event legacy.
The Powering Meeting Legacies - New Insights for Associations & Host
Communities report focuses on intervention, funding and resources, legacy measurement and legacy process and tools.
Topline learnings include:
- Too late is too little.
- Too many stakeholders involved early on can derail the legacy development process.
- Succes depends on the level and continuity of leadership, particularly by the local host.
- High alignment and engagement with local host and organizer yields greater impact.
“The knowledge that our report captures
can be a help for both associations and destinations looking to work with
legacy. In a world with a rising focus on sustainability, the value of a
congress for both the association, the delegates and the destination should be
bigger than the costs,” said, Pia Lange Christensen, MeetDenmark chair.
Legacy can be win-win
The report identifies opportunity for legacy
programmes to be added as a ‘natural extension of the association’s overall
vision and mission’. The report highlights that this can be achieved through engagement
and collaboration between associations and local companies, universities, and
public organisations in the destination, that have common purposes.
"Our work to attract congresses to Denmark is
important for companies within Danish business tourism. But it is just as
important to create lasting value for society and for the visiting associations
and delegates that choose Denmark,” says Pia Lange Christensen.
The MeetDenmark legacy research has been done together with Aalborg Convention Bureau, Aarhus Convention Bureau, Destination Fyn Convention Bureau and Copenhagen Convention Bureau.
Read the report here.
