Awareness Changes in Participants in Online Symposiums — Observations from Pre- and Post-Questionnaire Survey Results

This study aims to clarify the changes in participants’ awareness of an online symposium on MICE held during the COVID-19 pandemic. Authors compared and analyzed the results of a questionnaire survey conducted before and after the symposium targeting practitioners involved in attracting international conferences. The analysis showed that post-symposium evaluations increased in areas such as networking, understanding of infectious disease countermeasures, and interest in local resources, indicating that the symposium contributed to raising participants’ awareness. On the other hand, evaluations of VR and AI technologies settled at a realistic level due to an understanding of their limitations. Concerns about the decrease in international conferences were also somewhat alleviated by the prospect of a future recovery. In addition, discriminant analysis showed that the correct answer rate for the classification of pre- and post-symposium responses was 96.7%, confirming a clear change in participants’ awareness. This study provides suggestions for the form of international conferences and strategic information provision in the post-COVID era.