UK and Ireland Virtual Event Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report, by Event Type, Revenue Source, Age Group, Country : Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2027

The UK and Ireland virtual event market size was valued at $3.1 billion in 2019, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.3% to reach $36.1 billion by 2027.   

Virtual event is a digitally simulated proceeding, which covers a wide range of activities, from video and audio conferencing to live streaming and broadcasting. These events are conducted by companies during product launch and introduction of new services.

New regulations regarding work in various IT/BPO firms are expected to boost the flexibility for these companies to adopt work-from-home and work-from-anywhere policies. The virtual event market is witnessing higher demand as most of the firms have adopted the work-from-home policy, owing to the implementation of lockdown by the COVID-19-affected countries to prevent community spread of the disease. Thus, stay-at-home measures have resulted in increased opportunities for virtual event companies to integrate new technologies and develop products and services with distinguishing features to gain a competitive edge over others.

Advertisements and promotions remain a vital business practice pre COVID, during COVID, or post COVID to increase awareness about products and services offered by various companies. Before pandemic, individuals preferred to attend events physically, however, post the outbreak of the pandemic, individuals are strictly restricted to stay home. Thus, virtual events are gaining momentum during the pandemic. Similar to how individuals are restricted to attain virtual events, sponsors are left with no choice other than virtual events. Thus, sponsorship is done to provide material support to events or organizations.

However, lack of awareness among audience about technology is one of the major restraining factors of the UK and Ireland virtual event market. Event planners are responsible for smooth functioning of the event apps and event web portals on all devices and all browsers. If there are any restrictions, that should be clearly mentioned beforehand. Not everyone is likely to be equally technically savvy—thus, the entire onboarding process has to be made as simple as possible. Thus, all these factors collectively are likely to hamper the UK and Ireland virtual event market growth. 

COVID-19 has put actual events to a total halt, therefore, associations are congregating to the virtual event platform to deliver and convey the content to the crowd. Various trade shows and meetings have been canceled and delayed as a result of concerns encompassing the novel coronavirus episode. During this pandemic, lockdown on in-person occasions has brought about an upsurge of virtual events being conducted. A remote participant can take interest in the virtual event from any side of the world, given that the individual has access to the web.

Digitally simulated proceedings use web-based platforms such as BigMarker, GoToWebinar, HeySummit, HeySummit, and SpotMe to connect several attendees from across the world and include interactive engagement features, such as polling, question & answer (Q&A) sessions, and chat boxes. Key players in the industry are constantly striving to gain an edge over their competitors by launching state-of-the-art products or solutions for attendees.

The UK and Ireland virtual event market is segmented into event type, revenue source, age group, and country. On the basis of event type, the market is classified into webinar; conference; entertainment; virtual expo, fairs, & festivals; and others. 

Depending on revenue source, it is fragmented into ticket sale, sponsorship, and others. Depending on age group, it is fragmented into below 20 years, 21 to 40 years, and above 40 years. Further, the report is analyzed in two countries the UK and Ireland.   

According to the UK and Ireland virtual event market analysis on the basis of type, the entertainment segment accounted for the maximum share in the 2019. This is attributed to the fact that such music concerts and events offer valuable opportunity for promoters and brands to align themselves with people attending concerts. Moreover, streaming services in the music industry are creating new opportunities along with new distribution methods and media platforms that provide additional scope for brands to align and interact with world’s leading artists.

By revenue source, the sponsorship segment dominated the market, which accounted for 53.3% UK and Ireland virtual event market share in 2019, and is expected to continue this trend throughout the UK and Ireland virtual event market forecast period. This is attributed to the fact that sponsorship serves as a powerful and effective marketing tool to increase and reinforce brand awareness among targeted niche markets. Moreover, it is the key for strong marketing, owing to the fact that most of the events use sponsorship support to offer more exciting programs and to help defray rising costs. Advertising is considered a quantitative medium, whereas sponsorship is considered a qualitative medium. In addition, sponsorship serves as an ideal solution that complements other marketing programs in delivering event-related messages to people.

On the basis of age group, the 21 to 40 years age group segment dominated the market in 2019, accounting  for 44.6% of the market share, and is expected to continue this trend in the near future. This is attributed to active participation of individuals aged between 21 and 40 years in events such as exhibitions, conferences, seminars, and music concerts. In addition, increase in interest toward entrepreneur & business seminars and conferences that offer proper guideline & direction to the youth for establishing start-ups along with arrangement of music concerts and festive gatherings is anticipated to positively impact the growth of the UK and Ireland virtual event industry. 

Country wise, the UK held the major share of 69% in the UK and Ireland virtual event market in 2019, as companies are being more prudent about their spending and therefore not travelling afield for meetings due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the UK has been successful in winning conferences of international associations with over half of the top cities and countries selected as destinations for international association conferences being in the country. In addition, surge in adoption of smart devices and rise in internet penetration have supplemented the market growth. Furthermore, the UK and Ireland virtual event market is witnessing rapid growth due to increase in trend of online booking for music concerts, sports, and other events.  

  

Key Benefits For Stakeholders 

• The report provides a quantitative analysis of the current UK and Ireland virtual event market trends, estimations, and dynamics of the market size from 2019 to 2027 to identify the prevailing opportunities.     
• Porter’s five forces analysis highlights the potency of buyers and suppliers to enable stakeholders to make profit-oriented business decisions and strengthen their supplier–buyer network.
• In-depth analysis and the market size and segmentation assists to determine the prevailing UK and Ireland virtual event market opportunities.    
• Drivers and restraints are analyzed depending on event type in the UK and Ireland virtual event market. 

Key Market Segments 

By Event Type

• Webinar
• Conferences
• Virtual Expo, Fairs, & Festivals
• Entertainment
• Others

Revenue Source

• Ticket Sale
• Sponsorship
• Others

Age Group

• Below 20 years
• 21 to 40 years 
• Above 40 years

Country

• UK
• Ireland 

  UK and Ireland Virtual Event Market Report Highlights