Australia's New South Wales (NSW) Department of Health has announced that exhibitions in the region will be able to restart immediately.
Claudia Sagripanti (pictured), Exhibition and Event Association of Australasia (EEAA) chief executive said: “In NSW, the Department of Health has provided clarification this week that exhibitions, can operate with no capacity limit, subject to one person per four square metres of space and 1.5 metre social distancing. This means our industry is open for business in most states around Australia.
“The clarification issued in the Public Health Order for Gathering and Movement allows all Function Centres (which includes ‘Exhibition Centres') with a Covid-19 Safety Plan to operate at the four square metre rule to the venue capacity. NSW’s world-class venues have commenced planning for the safe return of exhibitions, with a number of events confirmed to take place from early 2021. Conferences, at this stage, remain subject to NSW Government capacity limits of 300 persons per event.
“This is excellent news and a real boost in confidence for the exhibition and business events industries and the wide-range of businesses which make up the supply chain. Businesses particularly those small and medium businesses, can plan their marketing efforts with some certainty to showcase and source new products and services, and to meet, trade and collaborate.
“The permission for exhibitions to go ahead in NSW, coupled with the Federal Government’s A$50m (US$36m) Business Events Grant Programme provides critical momentum towards re-energising the business events industry.”
The EEAA Board and Sagripanti have been working with the State Government chief medical officers and State government ministers to negotiate the return of business events under CovidSafe guidelines in all Australian states.
The EEAA launched a social media campaign in July focused on the message that the industry is #ExpoReady and ready to get back to business in a safe and controlled environment. A second phase of the campaign included the production of a Safe Operating Framework, outlining health and safety protocols that the industry can follow and incorporate with their own Covid-Safe plans to facilitate the safe return of business events. The campaign was used to "demonstrate to the government the importance of exhibitions and business events in helping to rebuild the Australian economy post the Covid-19 pandemic".
Sagripanti added: “Exhibitions and business events are the key to rebuilding economies, the focus of our lobbying work with government has been to highlight the sector’s capability to restart the economy – a top priority for business and governments in the current climate.
“The business events sector contributes more than A$35bn (US$25.2bn) to GDP, runs over 430,000 events annually and employs more than 229,000 people. Exhibitions are a significant contributor to the Business Events sector and are by far the largest event type on a per event basis in terms of average direct expenditure and attendances per event. The sector is a major contributor to Australia both financially and for its ability to expand marketplaces by bringing together buyers and sellers and offering a platform for launching innovation and new product.”
