GLOBAL EVENTS INDUSTRY HIT BY DEVASTATION OF THE CORONAVIRUS
EVENTS CANCELLED WORLDWIDE AS PANDEMIC FORCES GOVERNMENT LOCKDOWNS
BY KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
Te coronavirus pandemic has had an unprecedented and devas- tating effect on the global events industry. As we go to print, hun- dreds of events – from the mega to the large, medium and small – have been cancelled or postponed in the UK and worldwide. Early lobbying efforts of the
‘keep calm and carry on’ variety from the events and hospitality sector have largely now given way to the realities of lockdown and ‘social distancing’. In no particular order, albeit
following a rough chronology, Mobile World Congress in Barce- lona – the annual tech conven- tion – was among the first to fall victim to COVID-19. Te event was due to take place
on February 24-27, but organisers the GSM Association got quickly ahead of the curve as the virus spread from its epicentre in Hubei province in China. F8, Facebook’s annual con-
ference for developers in San Francisco, was replaced with ‘local events and live-streamed content’ and SXSW in Texas – where Twit- ter first came to prominence – was also cancelled. Shanghai Fashion Festival announced it was to be live-streamed online and Venice carnival’s last two days were in- evitably cancelled as Italy bore the brunt of the early outbreak in Eu- rope. In sport, the World Athletics Indoor Championships to take place in China were postponed until 2021 and Six Nations rugby fixtures were disrupted along with tennis, golf and football. For the events industry itself, international trade shows also
Nicola Sturgeon prepares the nation for the worst of the coronavirus with Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer Dr Catherine Calderwood and Health Secretary Jeane Freeman
fell victim to the coronavirus; IMEX Frankfurt on 12-14 May was cancelled after the German government announced a ban on events for more than a thousand people, as did the Berlin Travel Trade show. In the UK, CHS Leeds, formally known as Te Conference and Hospitality Show, was still go- ing ahead on April 28 as we went to print, as was Te Meetings Show at Olympia in London in June. Closer to home, though, and
VisitScotland’s Expo – the annual travel trade event – announced it would not be going ahead on April 1-2 at P&J Live in Aberdeen. And DataFest – the annual tech festival which hosts a series of events across Scotland in March – said its core offer: Data Summit, Data Talent Scotland, Data Tech, two STEM events and an execu- tive dinner were all cancelled, with smaller independent fringe events associated with the brand advised to proceed with caution.
Te total number of global
COVID-10 cases surpassed 124,000, including more than 4,600 fatalities, as of March 12. Te day before, the US Govern- ment announced it was suspend- ing all travel from Europe, with the exception of the UK. Due to strict lockdown and containment measures in China, the govern- ment there announced that it had ‘passed its peak’ but coun- tries including Italy and Iran have been overwhelmed by outbreaks. Ireland closed schools, colleges, and childcare facilities and the Scottish Government on March 12 said ‘mass gatherings’ of over 500 (albeit those requiring police and paramedic cover) were to be banned from the following week. Te UK Governmnent’s own COBRA emergency plan- ning committee met that day as it prepared the nation to enter into a ‘delay’ phase, following earlier ‘containment’ measures. Tere
were 36 confirmed coronavirus cases in Scotland as we went to press, with the World Health Organization (WHO) formally declaring the virus a global ‘pandemic’. Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer Dr Catherine Calderwood confirmed that one of the nine new cases identi- fied in Scotland was in a patient whose infection could not be traced either to travel or contact with another known case. Te UK’s total confirmed cases sat at 460 with eight dead, as the country was urged to prepare for a “significant outbreak”. EventIt – this publisher’s own trade show – was due to take place at the EICC on Tursday March 19. Te show was to adopt measures advised by government and the NHS, such as hand washing and using hand sanitisers, but it was uncertain on March 12 whether, like so many others, the trade show was going to go ahead. n
EVENTSBASE | SPRING 2020 | 7
NEWSFLASH CORONAVIRUS
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