(last updated: March 2, 2020)
The World Health Organisation has declared the outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus a global health emergency.
UFI is supporting the work of global, regional, and national institutions who deal with the containment of this outbreak.
As part of the meetings industry, exhibitions are both very much affected by protective measures as they are a vital means to support industries in challenging times.
As an industry, we have shown time and again that we are supportive and resilient in difficult times. Our best response to this outbreak is to stay focused and calm.
On this page, we are listing some resources for UFI members and the industry at large.
Statement from UFI President Mary Larkin
Joint statement from UFI and SISO
Information on the virus:
- The World Health Organisation (WHO) is the source of relevance, they have a dedicated web presence here: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
- The WHO provides daily updates here: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports/
- Global tracker of coronavirus cases by Johns Hopkins CSSE: https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6
- US Center for Disease Control: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
- European Centre for Disease Prevention: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/novel-coronavirus-china
Travel advice:
- Again, the WHO: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/travel-advice
- The WHO and the UNWTO (World Tourism Organisation) have issued a joint statement regarding the travel and tourism industry: https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/27-02-2020-a-joint-statement-on-tourism-and-covid-19—unwto-and-who-call-for-responsibility-and-coordination
- National governments issue travel advisories
Health advice:
- We have put together a template with precautionary advice. That template can be translated into your local language and used as display.
- The WHO has a good tool kit of material for travellers and trade show participants: WHO’s messaging on what travelers and participants in trade shows and exhibitions can do to stay safe.
Company advice:
- The WHO has issued a document called “Key planning recommendations for Mass Gatherings in the context of the current COVID-19 outbreak”.
- We have put together UFI recommendations on how to deal with the outbreak within your company and some guidance around events you are running
Industry responses:
- We are tracking policy announcements from exhibition industry associations here: blog.ufi.org
- We are gathering case studies on exhibitions successfully dealing with the outbreak:
– AIME, Melbourne, Australia – http://blog.ufi.org/2020/02/28/case-study-aime/
– Global Pet Expo, Orlando, U.S.A. – http://blog.ufi.org/2020/02/27/global-pet-expo-the-show-must-go-on-despite-covid-19/
– Integrated Systems Europe, Amsterdam, The Netherlands – http://blog.ufi.org/2020/02/18/case-study-ise-amsterdam-mike-blackman/
Additional resources:
- The Joint Meetings Industry Council (JMIC) has issued a call to the whole Meetings Industry in response to the outbreak – you can read (and share) it here
- We are facilitating ongoing dialogue between exhibition organisers around the world – to be involved in this exchange contact info@ufi.org
- We are facilitating ongoing dialogue between exhibition venue operators around the world – to be involved in this exchange contact info@ufi.org
- Our UFI media partner m+a is tracking trade show postponements and cancellations around the world here: https://www.expodatabase.de/en/articles/125890-coronavirus-leads-to-exhibition-cancellations
- The WHO has stated that the world is also fighting an “infodemic”, as many fake stories are being pushed out predominantly through social media. “NewsGuard” is running a Coronavirus Misinformation Tracking Center that identifies and calls out news and information sites in the U.S., the U.K., France, Italy, and Germany that have been identified as publishing materially false information about the virus: https://www.newsguardtech.com/coronavirus-misinformation-tracking-center