UFI Connects
audience with the Pope!”
“I had hoped never to be in a
position like SARS again,” Duck said,
noting that coronavirus had taken
everybody by surprise and anxieties
had affected all.”
Although professing himself an
optimist, Duck did warn that some
postponements were spilling over
into 2021 because there was no more
space available in late 2020. In terms
of Informa, he said, the first show
now on the books in Hong Kong was a
jewellery show in June. “The industry
really wants the show,” he underlined.
Duck noted the lack of cash in the
system with no ‘lifeblood’ circulating,
although the government was trying
to put something back in.
He also welcomed the sparks of
optimism at Shenyang and noted the
situation in Japan was slowly going
back to something like ‘normal’.
Duck reported that his Hong Kong
office was now open with a full
complement of people, and Informa
offices are open in Shanghai.
He reported a new Hong Kong
government initiative for giving
approximately USD$1,300 to SMEs
towards exhibiting at a tradeshow
in future and noted subsidies were
also available for venue costs for up
to a year for some organisations. He
described that as welcome help, with
the last fair taking place in December
in Hong Kong.
Duck also drew attention to the
livelihoods of the stand contractors
and other increasing pressures on
employers in the sector.
Mark Cochrane asked if the
situation was easier for countries
oriented predominantly on shows for
the domestic markets, like Japan.
Duck said that with the Tokyo
Olympics postponed, there could be
opportunities for Big Sight to move
back into exhibitions, as it had been
commissioned as a media centre for
the Games.
He thought a network of ‘safe’
markets in Asia could soon also be
forming.
“We will all need to look at different
w w w.exhibitionworld.co.uk
ways of putting on new shows. Maybe
some of the security systems might
not be needed,” he added. “After all
the problem now is not terrorism, it’s
the virus. We don’t want lots of people
queuing in future.”
Cochrane asked how the organiser
landscape might change.
“Some will undoubtedly struggle
to carry on and we will see some
amalgamations,” said Duck, who said
the more nimble sub-contractors
without so many fixed costs were most
likely to win through. “The fittest will
survive,” he said.
SACEOS and AIPC President and
CEO of SingExpo, Aloysius Arlando
noted that, in Singapore, what had
begun as a public health emergency
had become an economic emergency
over the following months.
“The trillion-dollar question is when
it will end,” he said.
Singapore was now dealing with
a rise in imported cases of Covid-19
and anxiously awaiting the return of
200,000 of its students from abroad.
New restrictions had been brought
in and there was great emphasis, he
said, on contact tracing and thermal
screening and being generally pro-
active in tracking the disease.
He contrasted, however, the
situation over SARS, where three
months into the outbreak there had
been light at the end of the tunnel.
With Covid-19, Arlando said, “it was
anyone’s guess how long it will last
and when a vaccine will come out”.
“We cannot be complacent,” he said,
“as we just don’t know how the virus
will morph.”
Arlando added that Plan Bs were
needed for all, noting that while
the first postponements in January/
February had been for the June-August
period, “we are now seeing plans for
shows put in the first quarter of 2021.”
“The ‘new normal’, even if we
get out of the woods, must be
precautionary measures being taken
until we get a vaccine,” the SingEx CEO
added and predicted a broad U-shape
curve of recovery, but underlined
that, “our shows depend on where the
“The [Shenyang]
centre has been told by
authorities the ban on
exhibitions is lifted.”
buyers are coming from”.
Expanding on a newly announced
Singapore government package of
support for the broader economy
in general, including tourism and
aviation, Arlando said that there was
25% government underwriting of
wages and some lifelines to aviation.
He said the exhibition industry should
be ready for any restart and ruefully
suggested summer holidays would
probably have to be thrown out the
window!
He acknowledged the industry
could face challenges around profile
protection and the whole circuit of
events would probably need a global
reset. “There will definitely be a
bunching of events,” he said.
V. Anbu, CEO of BIEC in Bangalore,
India, and incoming UFI President,
added that India had been lucky
that many large shows had already
managed to take place before the
coronavirus hit during the quieter
time of year for shows. Most were
scheduled for quarters three and four,
said Anbu.
One question from the UFI audience
that cropped up many times was
whether the virus outbreak was
driving virtual events technology.
“No doubt some are looking to make
it work,” said Michael Duck, who
thought it would be far more common
alongside future shows. He admitted
such technology could also be “a viable
alternative” for shows unable to take
place at all.
Michael Kruppe wrapped up
the discussion with some thoughts
that the industry would have a “big
puzzle” to solve about managing the
likely big calendar squeeze and he
recommended all interested in future
UFI webinars to check the association’s
website.
Issue 2 2020
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