Are Virtual Events here to stay?

Hello!

Introduction

It has not been easy for businesses in the events sector. You may have noticed our venues lit up in red, signalling that we remain on red alert.

We were the first industry to close when COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdowns swept the globe, and we will be the last to fully reopen. Fear not—virtual events emerged almost overnight and appeared to offer a solution. Or did they?

Virtual events have provided participants and attendees with a platform—albeit a very different one—to engage and interact during periods of restricted movement.

My business, Quadrant2Design, works with companies exhibiting at trade shows. Many of our clients embraced the virtual-event trend and reported mixed results regarding its success.

Different events deliver different value propositions: learning, relationship-building, entertainment or promotion, depending on the format.

However, over the course of 2026 it became clear that virtual events struggle to replicate the full experience. With this in mind, what does the future hold for virtual events? Are they here to stay?

A Rising Market Segment

If we can say anything positive about 2026, it has been a catalyst for innovation. While some industries struggled with the aftermath of COVID-19, others thrived. A few new players emerged from the shadows.

Businesses had to pivot to an online environment. This was by no means impossible—we had been moving gradually in this direction for years—but nothing accelerates change quite like a global crisis.

Virtual events were one such digital pivot. They had existed for years before 2026.

Many organisers already hosted virtual award shows or streamed festivals to expand reach, attract larger audiences or offer a more sustainable alternative. The restrictions on mass gatherings simply left them with no choice but to adopt the virtual format.

Global tech brands led the way—Samsung hosted a virtual event to unveil the Samsung Galaxy Fold. It did not take long for smaller conferences to follow. Before long, everyone seemed to be a virtual-event planner.

What is a Virtual Event?

Did you join a Zoom party or play a pub quiz on the House Party app during lockdown? Congratulations—you have already attended or hosted a virtual event.

A virtual event is simply a gathering of people interacting in an online environment. Instead of face-to-face conversation, communication takes place via chatrooms or group video calls.

Benefits of Going Virtual

This format offers several advantages. From a marketer’s perspective, the volume of data that can be collected is invaluable. Virtual events are often easier to manage than in-person ones because there are fewer variables that can go wrong.

Attendees incur no travel or accommodation costs.

Being both cheaper and more convenient, virtual events should, in theory, attract larger audiences than their physical counterparts.

We say “in theory” because, despite a significant rise in demand, available data shows that virtual events are still far from matching the scale of the physical events market.

Drawbacks of Virtual Events

The main limitation is obvious: people attend events primarily for the crowd. Socialising, meeting new contacts and discovering opportunities have always been key motivators.

Without face-to-face interaction, organisers have struggled to maintain engagement.

A study by Wild Apricot found that engagement was the biggest challenge when planning virtual events.

Participants often feel overwhelmed by the number of online calls and may lack the technical confidence to participate fully.

From an organiser’s perspective, more than three-quarters reported spending less on virtual events than on in-person ones. Yet almost a third cited revenue as a challenge, noting that it was harder to secure sponsorship and visitor engagement. Despite lower running costs, virtual events generate less income than their physical equivalents.

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When Virtual Events Work

It would be unfair to place all virtual events in the same category. Events—whether physical or virtual—fall into numerous subcategories.

Here are some common examples:

1. Weddings
2. Conferences
3. Charity Races
4. Music Festivals
5. Food Festivals
6. Exhibitions
7. Birthday Parties
8. Sports Games
9. Parades
10. Live Music Gigs
11. Political Rallies
12. Protests
13. Seminars
14. Workshops
15. Press Conferences
16. Galas

A food festival clearly loses its appeal online—visitors cannot smell or taste the food, and exhibitors cannot generate sales. A seminar, however, transfers far more easily to a digital setting.

Virtual events create a distraction-free environment that suits educational or persuasive formats particularly well.

Organisers of virtual seminars, press conferences and workshops enjoy lower costs and simpler logistics, while attendees gain the same learning outcomes without the need to travel. Everyone benefits.

When Virtual Events Do Not Work

Many events succeed precisely because of physical presence. Visitors are drawn by the atmosphere created by a crowded exhibition hall or an intimate music venue.

Consider the purpose of your event. If it requires focused attention on speakers or presentations, a virtual format can replicate that experience. If it depends on spontaneous interaction, networking, dancing or making connections, digital cannot fully replace physical.

Wild Apricot identified engagement as one of the greatest challenges. Despite useful tactics for building an audience, many event types still rely heavily on real-time interaction to succeed.

Business events that connect suppliers with buyers lose impact without engagement. Sports teams lose motivation without cheering crowds. The same applies to live music and festivals.

Where engagement is essential, the virtual-events industry must develop better ways to involve participants. Current solutions are not working for most categories.

What Does the Future Look Like?

Predicting the future is never straightforward—our outlook shifts daily. Having observed the rapid rise of virtual events throughout 2026 and how audiences responded, we believe in-person events have little to fear.

Only a limited number of event types can truly succeed on a digital platform.

In most cases, people are simply not interested in virtual events that lack meaningful engagement. Where face-to-face interaction is vital, virtual formats will never fully replace physical ones.

That said, the speed with which the events industry adapted during the crisis was impressive. Organisers demonstrated remarkable agility and innovation under pressure.

If they maintain this momentum, they may yet create new virtual formats that foster genuine engagement.

The reduced costs of virtual events remain attractive. As the UK faces significant economic pressure, both businesses and consumers are tightening budgets.

Travel restrictions and venue-capacity limits continue to make large in-person events challenging. Venues typically require 70–90 % capacity to operate profitably; otherwise they must raise prices or reduce services.

Virtual events are therefore likely to remain part of the landscape for some time and may permanently replace certain formats.

Webinars and press conferences are easier to run online and benefit from a focused environment. Attendees receive the same value without leaving home.

Where virtual events cannot match the benefits of in-person experiences—such as live music or business networking—their online counterparts will gradually fade. This transition will not happen overnight.

Virtual events will persist until the threat of COVID-19 has fully receded. Only when we see either a dramatic and sustained drop in cases or widespread vaccination will travel restrictions and social-distancing rules be lifted.

Virtual formats can continue to complement in-person events until organisers are confident they can generate sufficient revenue.

Introducing Hybrid Events

As in-person events resume, organisers are questioning whether they will attract the same audiences and deliver the same value as before. With many people now weary of purely virtual experiences, what is the solution?

Travel restrictions and tighter budgets mean fully physical events will remain difficult in the short term. Organisers must adapt once again.

While audiences are eager for live events to return, virtual formats have proven a viable alternative. Hybrid events—combining physical and virtual elements—represent the way forward.

Two parallel experiences run simultaneously, enabling face-to-face networking for those who can attend while offering a digital platform for those who cannot.

At business exhibitions, for example, exhibitors can maintain a physical presence on the show floor, attracting senior decision-makers actively seeking new products. A virtual platform can host speaker sessions and workshops, creating a distraction-free learning environment.

Exhibitors can showcase products at both events, significantly extending their reach.

Hybrid events address the engagement challenges identified by organisers. The in-person element reconnects attendees who are less tech-savvy or tired of virtual platforms, while the virtual component provides easy access and rich data.

Organisers no longer need to worry about travel restrictions, and participants enjoy both networking opportunities and educational content. Hybrid events truly benefit everyone.

Summary

In conclusion, COVID-19 forced an industry-wide innovation that was long overdue. Virtual events bring clear benefits: lower costs, simpler management and richer data collection.

Yet engagement has declined as audiences grow tired of purely virtual alternatives.

Without engagement, events lose their purpose. That is why we do not believe virtual events are here to stay in the majority of cases.

Educational and professional formats such as webinars, workshops and seminars may remain online for the foreseeable future. They deliver equivalent value whether attended in person or remotely and benefit from a focused environment.

Organisers have taken note. They have identified which formats work online and which do not, and they have developed a solution that serves everyone: hybrid events.

By combining the best lessons from virtual events with the irreplaceable strengths of in-person gatherings, hybrid formats offer the clearest path to reviving the events industry.

Do you agree?

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