With major sports, music, exhibition and other events cancelling across the globe, IFBSO members are taking individual decisions regarding the staging of their own events. Some members have decided to postpone or cancel their boat shows while others are going ahead as scheduled.

Individual decisions are taken in line with local and national authorities, public health advice in the relevant countries and WHO guidelines.

COVID-19 is presenting the events and travel industries with an unprecedented global challenge. Like anyone else involved in the events industry, IFBSO is a passionate believer in, and advocate for, the substantial social and economic power of meetings and events. We feel that some media coverage fuels a degree of hype and over-reaction as it is sometimes based on speculation rather than facts and this will be damaging not just to our industry, but also business and world communities as a whole. 

Naturally, we encourage our members to actively and continuously monitor the Covid-19 Coronavirus outbreak and follow guidelines recommended by the authorities of the countries in which the events take place and the health and safety of exhibitors, visitors and staff is their and our top priority.

However, we also feel that it is our collective responsibility to focus on the facts and to act with common sense and sound judgement, taking the advice of the relevant authorities and scientists. As the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) stated recently: “closing borders, imposing blanket travel bans and implementing extreme policies are not the answer to stopping the spread of coronavirus.  Past experience shows that taking such extreme action has been ineffective at best. We urge governments to explore fact-based measures which don’t affect the vast majority of people and businesses for whom travel is essential.”

Accordingly, we strongly urge our members and their exhibitors and visitors to refer to the guidelines and protocols as suggested by the WHO and local /national public health authorities to contain and mitigate against any further spread of the virus. As this unprecedented situation is changing every day, we are confident that our members remain watchful but also focused on delivering what are extremely important events for the global business events community.

For further information please contact the IFBSO Secretariat: [email protected]