Due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak and the travel restrictions that remain in place in most Asian markets, UFI has made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 UFI Asia-Pacific Conference and the Digital Innovation Forum which were originally scheduled to be held in Macau in March and were subsequently rescheduled in late August.
“The UFI team worked closely with our hosts in Macau on this decision,” says Mark Cochrane, UFI regional manager Asia-Pacific. “Unfortunately, the travel restrictions across the region and around the world made it impossible to proceed with this event in Macau in 2020. We thank our hosts at the Macau Fair & Trade Association for their professionalism and understanding in this difficult situation and we look forward to bringing this event back to Macau at the earliest opportunity.”
“As the host of the UFI Asia-Pacific Conference 2020, the Macau Fair & Trade Association is saddened by this cancellation, but we understand and support UFI’s decision given the current pandemic,” says Council Chairperson Synthia Chan. “At MFTA, health and safety are our priority in order to en-sure the recovery of the exhibition industry! Hence, we will look forward to welcoming the exhibition industry back to Macau when the time is right. Until then, stay healthy and happy!”
Although this is disappointing for all involved, the UFI team is looking to the future with optimism and will return to Macau in 2022 to organize another successful edition of the UFI Asia-Pacific Conference. And before that in 2021, the UFI Asia-Pacific Confer-ence will go to Melbourne, the first time an UFI event will take place in Australia.
In the meantime, UFI will work to facilitate meetings between members during the 2020 UFI Global Congress in a revised format. Open to more than 50,000 industry professionals globally who work for UFI member companies, UFI’s Global Congress is known as the exhibition industry’s largest global meeting of the year, combining international networking with unique content. It is an opportunity to gain insight into topics of strategic interest, as well as into the trends and challenges that the exhibition industry is currently facing. For more info on the UFI Global Congress, visit www.ufi.org/congress2020.
During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, UFI is also supporting the global community and the industry at large in many ways. A list of resources is available at www.ufi.org/coronavirus – including an overview of government support programs in around 60 countries around the world.
UFI has as well launched “UFI Connects,” a designated online program of educational talks, panels and sessions to provide content and dialogue while their regular events and educational programs cannot take place as usual. More than 25 sessions are available on demand, with live sessions free to access for industry professionals taking place every week. For more info on upcoming and previous “UFI Connects,” visit www.ufi.org/uficonnects.
The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry: UFI is the global trade association of the world’s tradeshow organisers and exhibition centre 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 repre-sents more than 50,000 exhibition industry employees globally, and also works closely with its 60 national and regional association members. More than 800 member organi-sations in 88 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 call +33 (0)1 46 39 75 00.
