The coronavirus also hits the exhibition sector. Close to the world meeting of the exhibition industry, the Global CEO Summit Congress, for the first time in Italy, whose central theme will be the development of the sector and technological innovation, a topic that cannot be avoided is precisely that of the coronavirus. Despite the exponential growth of this sector in recent years, we could see a strong arrest for 2020.
The exhibition sector is an industry with a strong positive impact on the global economy. It also contributes to the development of research, knowledge and helps to stimulate innovation in many sectors. Based on the impact on GDP, it also has positive implications at a social level.
For this reason, according to the sole administrator and general manager of Fiera Roma, Pietro Piccinetti, the health emergency could cause damage to the global exhibition industry.
Prior to the actual outbreak of this emergency, industry members seemed quite optimistic about the future. It is not possible to estimate, to date, the impact that the epidemic could have on tourism, but in any case it will be, fairs and exhibitions could suffer the worst damage.
If on one hand in 2018 trade fairs generated an economic impact of 275 billion euros, contributing 167,2 billion to world GDPon the other hand, with the health crisis we are experiencing, it is not possible to speculate for the current year.
Events, fairs organized prior to the coronavirus emergency, have been canceled or reduced for prevention, especially weighing on the economy. Organizing a fair requires time, preparation, advance payments, there are fairs that are scheduled months in advance. A huge damage for all the events that have been canceled or postponed, but not only for China, also for our country, where it seems that collective hysteria is taking over.
In recent days we have witnessed a real phobia of the Chinese virus. Episodes of discrimination, deserted Chinese restaurants and shops, the fear of contagion more than the contagion itself. The population, fearing they could contract the virus, prefers to avoid large exposures, a harmful consequence for many current events that have experienced dramatic declines in visitors, in some cases by 80%, as for the Festival of the Two Worlds in Milan.
The Italian exhibition industry, which was going through a phase of rebirth, increasingly present on a global scale, could suffer the side effects of the coronavirus, given that exhibitions are the main tool for promoting and disseminating our country's image in the world . According to data from the "UFI WORLD MAP OF VENUS" report, Italy is fourth in the world for interior spaces, after the USA, China and Germany.
"It is one of the Italian excellences - said Piccinetti - we have important numbers and we must consider that 50% of Italy's exports go through our exhibition system and 87% of SMEs manage to internationalize through exhibitions and events exhibition".
Not to mention the potential of Rome, the choice of the meeting in the Capital constitutes a great growth opportunity for Italy. The event that will take place in the next few days will host administrators, delegates and presidents of the most important trade fair and event organizers in the world. These 100 leaders of the exhibition sector will see how the Capital can be an ideal destination for the events market, analyzing the best strategies, objectives and measures especially in this period of crisis.
In this unpredictable future, many organizers and exhibition entities are trying to contain losses and take all possible preventive measures, from hand sanitizer to a series of medical teams ready to intervene to deal with any situation, in order to reassure the visitors.
Secondo Mary Larkin, president of UFI, exhibitions can also be a driving force for resolution in times of crisis because over the years there has been a growth in the exhibition sector more than the global economy.
Predictions are hard to make. Some economists believe that it will take six months for the world economy to recover, comparing this virus with that of 2003, Sars. However, the world scenario has undergone a major change since the last epidemic, as since 2003 the weight of the Chinese economy compared to the global one has grown by 13%, so the consequences would be much worse.
