UIA Launches New Survey on COVID-19 Impact in Association Meetings

The Union of International Associations (UIA) launches an extraordinary survey on the overall impact of the pandemic on international associations and their meetings.

The COVID 19 pandemic has had a tremendous impact on international associations and their meetings. Exploring that impact is the focus of the UIA Survey 2021. The Survey will examine the changes associations have made when planning and organizing their international events: the shift in their needs, expectations and technologies.

The Report will be released on 18 November 2021 at the annual UIA Associate Members Meeting in Prague and be freely available to the public on the UIA’s website.

Three languages will be used for the survey and its report: English, French and Spanish.

The UIA Surveys are the largest surveys looking into the meetings behaviour of all the diverse types of international associations around the world representing civic, charitable, commercial, or industrial interests.

For the UIA Survey 2021 and the Report the UIA is being supported by its sponsor Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau. Additional support is provided by Seoul Tourism Organization, Polish Tourism Organization - Poland Convention Bureau.

The most recent edition of the regular, bi-annual Survey was held in 2020 (report freely available here).

The forthcoming Survey 2021 will investigate how the impact of health issues and travel restrictions may influence the topics to be covered and the need for interaction between the meetings industry and international associations. And it should reveal the fields where associations and industry can cooperate in order to redefine events and make association congresses, meetings, conferences, etc. a success for everyone – the association, the delegates and consequently for the destination.