You might have attended a few events in the past. So, what is a major factor that determines your decision for making your presence felt at an event? Is it the location of the event? Or something else entirely? As per statistical data, as much as 75% of attendees measure their decision of attending an event on the basis of the destination city. This is simply because attending an event provides individuals with a chance to visit a new city and explore (as well as experience) a different culture.
Once attendees are able to scoop off some time from the event in question, all they would like to do is explore the city. They surely look for options circling two pivotal aspects: entertainment and food. However, this might become a bit stressful in situations wherein attendees devote a chunk of their time to the event, and by nighttime, they’re clueless as to where they should go!
In such situations, highlighting visit-worthy places in the destination city can surely improve the overall experience of stay for the attendees. Here are some of the ways in which event apps can help attendees explore their host city:
● Highlight sponsors or partnerships
Event organizers often partner with local sponsors in order to arrange accommodation for individuals attending events and make their stay comfortable. This, in turn, facilitates the use of virtual locations, and also availing a plethora of offers and discounts on food and entertainment for attendees. For events such as an employee recognition program, one day is particularly dedicated to a local city tour that tends to keep the employee engagement level high, thereby making their visit successful both in professional and personal terms.
● Engaging people using gamification
Gamification works on the basis of the end goal of an event. Different categories of games can be initiated in the event app itself which can aid in exploring the city. This way the attendee experience can be enhanced to the next level and the attendee traffic can be diverted to the desired locations in the host city.
Vendors can be deployed to manage the games and fun activities for the employees but giving out information about the fun activities on the itinerary will attract more audience to your event.
● Chatbots
Chatbots within the event app may be used for exploring various dining and entertainment options present in the host city. With the significant advancements taking place in the technological realm, chatbots are being seen as the personal concierge for attendees of these kinds of events.
Using chatbots also enhances the customer’s user experience on one’s app and looks more visually appealing to the users.
● Opportunities for sharing event experience
Attendees are usually seen sharing event photos on different social media handles using hashtags. Event app-makers can take this excitement to the next level by launching its own channel where attendees can post pictures and videos, thereby sharing and commenting on the event and the host city.
Using this feature would further help the event’s host to extend its event reach, and would also educate one on the prospects circling the city of the event. Pictures and videos would be the best source to showcase the culture and insights of the host city.
● Customizing the experience
With event apps working on artificial intelligence, the task of customizing attendee experience has become easier and seamless. For instance, when organizations arrange conferences for employees, they can seek employee feedback to customize attendee profiles in order to highlight the must-attend programs or events for individual attendees to enhance the personalization.
This experience can be customized further with the help of a guided audio tour, which can provide a layout of the place and add value to the city trip.
Conclusion
Adding a section about the event’s host city is important to bring in more attendees to the event and amplify their experience on the app.
All types of city-display features should be embedded within the app to give customers a better idea of how their visit would pan out in the city, during the event or after.
It’s important to customize the city-featuring sections according to the type of audience attending the event. For example, with an event catering to the audience set of the age group between 25-30, the itinerary should carry the parties going across the city.
