UFI Comment
Stand ready
to be the
driver of
recovery
hese are truly
unique times.
Around the world,
events are being
banned in connection with the
current Covid-19 pandemic. The UFI
team has been working remotely
since mid-March, as are many of you
around the world. We are forced to
sit still – which is the hardest thing to
do for event industry professionals.
We want to bring people together –
bring industries together – and yet,
right now, almost everywhere, we
cannot do just that.
Print is not the fastest medium
in times like this, so let me use
this column today to share some
thoughts on how to make the best
use of your time right now – both for
yourselves and for our industry.
I have read and heard many
individual stories from colleagues
in various destinations who are
using their special skills as events
professionals to help their respective
neighbourhoods. This is a great way
to care for your local community and
neighbours, and I want to applaud
each and every one of you.
Also, working remotely and not
holding events does not mean that, as
industry and industry professionals,
we do not stay connected. UFI’s social
media channels are a good example of
that, and I encourage you to connect
with us there – you’ll find the links on
ufi.org.
These weeks and months of
10
Issue 2 2020
combating the Covid-19 pandemic
are impacting businesses
everywhere, and our industry is
no exception. A strong focus on the
work we are doing at UFI right now
is therefore industry advocacy. We
are doing our part to make every
government understand a very
simple message: That our industry,
the exhibitions and events industry,
is critical for any recovery to be
successful.
For us to be in a position to
kickstart the economy, governments
will need to help our industry right
now. Without economic assistance,
the small and medium-sized
companies that are the backbone
of vast parts of our industry’s
ecosystem will not be able to get
through the tough times they are
currently enduring.
At time of writing, the first
stimulus packages for exhibitions
and events have been launched in
Hong Kong and Denmark. Other
countries like Germany and the UAE,
as well as blocs like the European
Union, are introducing programmes
to provide support for small and
medium enterprises.
As an industry, we operate the
meeting and market places for
all industries! We are the fastest
fast-track to recovery for industries
and economies. We bring industries
together to do business. We bring
experts together to find the best
responses to challenges like this. And
we connect people and cultures to
drive exchange and understanding,
which is just as important for our
globally connected world to function.
Let’s be realistic: this will not be
over in a few weeks’ time -- this will
impact economies and societies for
some time to come.
As of now – mid March –
companies have not been able to
secure the tens of billions of orders
on tradeshow floors that they usually
do. It is hard to appreciate just
how huge our meetings industry
is – exhibitions alone create a total
economic output of US$325bn every
Kai Hattendorf
UFI Managing Director
year. In March alone, more than
80% of exhibitions in Asia did not
take place. Hundreds of exhibitions
in Europe have been postponed or
cancelled. It is the same scenario
wherever you look.
The same goes for other types
of events. You are all familiar with
these calculations. If you just add
up the numbers, the world is set to
lose several hundred billion dollars
in economic value from cancelled
events as we jointly address
Covid-19.
It is impossible to say when
this outbreak will be over, but the
moment that the authorities give
the ‘all clear’ we will be ready to
open the doors to as many shows,
conferences and meetings as
absolutely possible, as fast as we can.
We are all in this together, and
if we work together then we will
prevail, together. We will be a driver
of the recovery.
w w w.exhibitionworld.co.uk