Emerging Venue Considerations for Event Management: the case of Ireland

Event venues represent a focal point for infectious disease transmission among attendees 12 and event stakeholders, creating lasting uncertainty within the industry post-COVID-19. There is 13 now a need to investigate emerging venue considerations for the event industry as a result of the 14 COVID-19 pandemic. Using Ireland as a case, a quantitative questionnaire was used on a sample of 15 event managers. Event venue monitoring for COVID-19 is lacking, while risk mitigation procedures 16 focus more on attendees already at the venue rather than avoiding infected persons entering the 17 venue. Risk assessments now comprise COVID-19 risk however, a lack of resources means regular 18 health and safety has shown signs of weakening. Government and local authority resources and 19 financial support are required. Pre-venue procedures of symptom screening and proof of vaccina- 20 tion, combined with venue procedures for disinfection of venue spaces, table service, and appropri- 21 ate ventilation have proven to be effective COVID-19 risk mitigation procedures. Additionally, ICT 22 (information computer technology) could disseminate up-to-date health guidelines through cus- 23 tomer-centric digital environments representing enhanced information sharing to avoid uncertainty 24 and support pro-social intentions of event attendees and compliance with event venue COVID-19 25 risk mitigation procedures.