(Pictured above L-R: ICCA President James Rees, AIPC President Aloysius Arlando & UFI President Mary Larkin)
As authorities around the world are increasingly clearing business events to run again, organizers of conventions and exhibitions, as well as venue and center operators need to put respective measures in place that create safe environments for participants.
A new global Guide on the matter identifies and promotes globally emerging standards, protocols, and good practices. The “Good Practice Guide: Addressing COVID-19 Requirements for Re-Opening Business Events” is jointly produced by AIPC, the International Association of Convention Centers, ICCA, the International Convention and Congress Association and UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry.
The third in a series of COVID-19-related guides, it is being shared with the associations’ respective memberships. It supports their work to create conditions and safeguards that will enable the safe re-opening of their activities while observing the needs and expectations of relevant governments and health authorities.
The Guide complements two earlier publications—Good Practice Guidance to COVID-19 for Convention and Exhibition Centers and Good Practice Guidance for the Use of Centers as Temporary Emergency Facilities—which were produced and distributed in March and April of this year.
“As we move toward the prospect of a responsible re-opening of the industry as a critical vehicle for economic and social recovery, this third Guide is one that is of crucial importance to creating the required confidence amongst clients, delegates and governments that we have identified all the requirements needed to support a safe and heathy environment for re-engagement,” says AIPC President Aloysius Arlando. “At the same time we recognize that because such decisions will necessarily be made by local authorities who hold the decision-making power, the best approach is to provide a framework and resources required by centers to create their own documentation rather than pretending that any one standard can serve everyone under what may be very different circumstances in different parts of the world.”
“International meetings and events are organized gatherings of professionals with specific, known and controlled attendee participation and need to be considered this way by global authorities, as opposed to other mass gatherings such as festivals and sporting events,” says ICCA President James Rees. “It is our challenge to convince local governments, associations and event attendees that our venues can be highly-controlled and safe environments. By sharing information and best practices between our global industry association-partners, we hope we will be contributing to a more integrated approach, so that the international meetings industry can play its crucial role in economic and social recovery sooner rather than later.”
“Based on the ‘UFI Global Framework for reopening exhibitions and B2B trade events,’ this joint Guide shows how our industry will move forward,” says UFI President Mary Larkin. “Sharing information and best practices on how to reopen the doors to events, from venues to organizers, is key in ensuring the strong future of the industry. Pre-competitive collaboration is the only way we, as an industry, can host events that are safe for our customers, vendors and employees, and deliver the top-marketing tool that will be critical in the post-pandemic economic recovery.“
As with previous Guides, this latest publication has been created as a collaborative project amongst different parts of the overall industry. It has been developed through the direct, practical experiences and expertise of members that are dealing with the impacts on a day-to-day basis, and the three association presidents acknowledged this invaluable contribution to the relevance of the content.
Following distribution, the partner associations will be scheduling an online event to facilitate the implementation of the guidance provided in this publication and to assist members in interpreting its content into local actions.
Founded in 1958, AIPC, the International Association of Convention Centres, is a global network of some 190 leading centers in 61 countries with the active involvement of more than 900 management-level professionals. Its mission is to encourage, support and recognize excellence in convention center management, based on the diverse experience and expertise of its international membership, and it maintains a full range of educational, research, networking and management standards programs in order to achieve this. AIPC recognizes and actively promotes the essential role of the international meetings industry in supporting economic, academic and professional development in communities where its members are located as well as enhancing global relations amongst diverse business and cultural interests world wide. For more info, visit www.aipc.org or contact them at secretariat@aipc.org
ICCA, the International Congress and Convention Association, is the global association leader for the international meetings industry and specializes in the international association meetings sector, offering unrivaled data, education, communication channels, and business development and networking opportunities. Since its establishment in 1963, ICCA represents the world’s top destinations and most experienced suppliers specialized in handling, transporting and accommodating international meetings and events, and comprises of more than 1,100 member companies and organizations in almost 100 countries and territories worldwide. As of 2020 ICCA encompasses all major stakeholders in the world of association meetings, by opening its doors to associations with the launch of the “ICCA Association Community,” offering education, connections, tools and resources to associations to organize more effective meetings. For more info, visit www.iccaworld.org or contact them at icca@iccaworld.org.
UFI is the global trade association of the world’s tradeshow organizers and exhibition center operators, as well as the major national and international exhibition associations, and selected partners of the exhibition industry. UFI’s main goal is to represent, promote and support the business interests of its members and the exhibition industry. UFI directly represents more than 50,000 exhibition industry employees globally, and also works closely with its 60 national and regional association members. More than 800 member organizations in 89 countries around the world are presently signed up as members. Around 1,000 international trade fairs proudly bear the UFI-approved label, a quality guarantee for visitors and exhibitors alike. UFI members continue to provide the international business community with a unique marketing media aimed at developing outstanding face-to-face business opportunities. For more info, visit www.ufi.org or contact them at media@ufi.org Tel: +33 (0)1 46 39 75 00.
