UFI Comment
Milestone
moments
he past few days (of
May -Ed) have seen our
industry revitalised –
plans are being put in
motion to reopen our market places
and meeting places, with a strong
focus on implementing Covid-19
related safety measures.
We have seen some ‘milestone
moments’: The Chinese State Council
gave the green light to hold MICE
events again in general. Germany
made a clear distinction between
trade shows/exhibitions and ‘mass
gatherings’. Exhibitions are running
again in China and South Korea, and
they are seeing more visitors than
expected. In Germany, shows are
confirmed again from September
onwards, whereas in the US, venues
report that they are ‘ready for
business’ as of July.
These are weeks of advocacy work,
and of intense collaboration. As an
industry, we were among the first to
be affected by Covid-19. It is now up to
us as to whether we will be one of the
last industries to be opened again.
You will all have read enough
about the ‘new normal’, about
‘pivoting’, about ‘a post Covid world’.
Let us focus instead on how we can
shape the future of our businesses, of
our industry.
In close collaboration with many of
the exhibition industry associations
from all around the world that are UFI
members, we are talking to decisionmakers
to make them understand
some simple facts:
• Exhibitions and business events are
a fast track to economic recovery:
they are the world’s market places
and the meeting places;
• Not all types of events (or ‘mass
gatherings’, as virologists call them)
are equal – an exhibition is not a
beer festival, and a conference is not
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10 Issue 3 2020