Christopher BarrettSome 72% of British consumers have missed attending an event since the start of the pandemic, with concerts and sports events missed the most, according to research commissioned as part of the #WeCreateExperiences campaign orchestrated by cross-industry group One Industry One Voice.
The poll of 2,010 consumers by Censuswide also found that the vast majority of respondents are ready to accept coronavirus mitigation measures at events put in place by organisers if required.
Some 84% of respondents said they would agree to conditions including additional bio-security measures, when booking an event. Meanwhile, 81% would be willing to provide evidence of a vaccination or a negative Covid test taken within 72 hours of attending the event, and 41% would be prepared to pay more for an event ticket to cover the costs of additional safety measures or a reduced capacity. More than one in three of those people (37%) would pay up to 20% extra for their ticket.
The research also found that 65% of those surveyed would be happy to roll over their ticket, rather than demand a refund.
Of those questions, more than 26% said they would be likely or very likely to attend a music festival this summer once restrictions are removed. For concerts the figure was 33%, sport 31% and 22% cultural festival.
Celebrities, musicians and famous names from the world of sport are backing the #wecreateexperiences consumer campaign launched today, 30 March, designed to encourage people to plan ahead and look forward to sharing live experiences again, with the message ‘Together, we’ll do this right’.
The campaign has won support from event operators including Festival Republic MD Melvin Benn, Parklife festival co-founder Sacha Lord, Stamford Bridge events manager Lucy Adamson, Isle of Wight Festival boss John Giddings, Surrey County Cricket Club CEO Richard Gould and Green Man Festival owner Fiona Stewart.
Organisers said they have released a campaign video today that “showcases the power of the UK’s world-leading events industry, which employs more than 1.5 million people, to inspire through shared experiences”.
Celebrities taking part in the campaign include Rugby World Cup winners Jonny Wilkinson and Will Greenwood; Olympians Daley Thompson and Alistair Brownlee; former England cricket captain Sir Andrew Strauss; singer Ronan Keating; chefs Tom Kerridge and Angela Hartnett; and TV personalities Claudia Winkleman, Rory Bremner, Sam Thompson and Mark Durden-Smith.
People are being encouraged to take part in a social media campaign through @1IndustryVoice channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, sharing details of the event they would most like to attend and tagging the person they would like to share it with.
One Industry One Voice co-founder Simon Hughes said, “Life is all about experiences and the UK live events industry is the best in the world at creating great experiences to share with our families, our friends and our community. We are ready to get back to work, but we recognize this is a journey of recovery and safety is paramount so live experiences will return gradually and only when it is safe to do so.
“The #wecreateexperiences campaign is encouraging people to book tickets for events and experiences and to commit to supporting safety measures put in place by organisers and venues. We are known for our world-leading expertise and together we will do this right”.