Asia has a robust meetings and events industry. To accommodate the crowds attending different meetings, concerts and sports events, more and more event venues have been built, triggering rising demands for security. Increasingly, cutting-edge technologies such as face and license plate recognition have been deployed to
Asia has a robust meetings and events industry. To accommodate the crowds attending different meetings, concerts and sports events, more and more event venues have been built, triggering rising demands for security. Increasingly, cutting-edge technologies such as face and license plate recognition have been deployed to help operators secure their venues, protect lives as well as achieve further management efficiency.
Globally, the so-called meetings, incentives, conference and exhibition (MICE) industry has become more robust and feverish than ever amid strong demands. A report by Allied Market Research pointed out that the global MICE industry generated revenue of US$752 billion in 2016, and that figure is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 7.5 percent to reach $1.2 trillion by 2023.
Among the different regions in the world, Asia in particular is expected to see the highest growth, with the same report citing a CAGR of 8.3 percent for Asia between 2017 and 2023. “Asia-Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing segment during the forecast period, owing to the rapid growth in the business travel sector in recent decades. Furthermore, economic growth, regional cooperation, intellectual development, and high penetration of internet and technology in the densely populated countries are expected to boost the market growth in the region,” the study said. A separate report by CWT Meetings & Events, meanwhile, cited the top 10 destinations for meeting and events in the Asia Pacific in 2017 were Singapore, Sydney, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Melbourne, Tokyo, Mumbai and Seoul.
In addition, sports events are in no shortage in the Asia Pacific region. Taipei, for example, just hosted the Universiade in 2017. Then, the Asian Games will take place in Jakarta in August. Finally, the 2020 Summer Olympics as well as Paralympics will be held in Tokyo, attracting athletes and spectators from all over the world.
Given the sheer number of events taking place in Asia, building event venues – stadiums, concert halls and exhibition centers – has become a trend in the region. “The main growth is from integrated developments/infrastructures (idi). The investments for idi comprise a mix of retail, hotels, convention/events halls and entertainment facilities for smaller concerts and even sports events. Because of increased competitiveness, developers and operators are trying to explore more variety of events,” said Patrick Lim, Director of Sales and Marketing at Ademco Security Group.
“The number of foreign visitors to Japan has been increasing year by year. And we will have 2020 Tokyo Olympic/Paralympic Games here in Tokyo. Hence stadiums and other facilities are under construction now,” said Yasuo Nagase, Chairman of ASIS International Japan Chapter.
Demands for Security
The rise in event venues in Asia inevitably triggers security demands, considering it's of vital importance to protect the lives of audiences and staff as well as their properties against various types of danger, including stampedes, fire, petty crimes, syndicated crimes, terrorists, radicalized individuals, fans violence and activist groups.
“Event venues face a number of potential security threats ranging from crowd violence and terrorist attacks to illegal entry and smuggling of contraband materials into the venue,” said Willem Ryan, Vice President of Global Marketing and Communications at Avigilon. “For large event venues, like stadiums, security operators need the ability to effectively monitor large crowds while also being able to zoom in with enough detail to get a clear image of a visible individual, vehicle or event in question.”
“Events venues have always had to deal with large crowds with diverse backgrounds/profiles, time constraint, identifications, parking and vehicle screening. For events such as trade shows, they face large crowds from many different countries and backgrounds, so registration, identification and basic screening is always a problem. For concerts, because of the fixed timing, venues experience a sudden surge of crowd at specific period that can create both security and safety issues,” said Lim. “While traditional risk assessments have always looked at a facility for its risk profile, an event venue can be very hard to assess because we never know what event will happen in the future and what are the implications at that time. A regular fashion show can trigger an activist group movement via social media. Fake news can trigger a stampede with ‘a million dollar giveaway promo.' It is much more complex now and operators can pay a hefty price for neglecting these new factors.”