2020: a challenging year
Paul Riemens (CEO) and Maurits van der Sluis (COO) discuss one of the most challenging years in the history of the RAI. The COVID-19 pandemic affected the entire event sector in an exceptionally hard way. What started out promising to be a top year ended up with us having to keep our doors firmly closed for much of 2020. How did the directors experience this strange time and what choices did they have to make? How do they see things now more than a year since the pandemic began? And last but certainly not least, how is the RAI preparing for an event calendar that shows a very busy second half of 2021?
2020 promised to be the best year ever: How did it start? “With so many events booked, 2020 was indeed set to be an extraordinarily busy year,” says Paul. "That’s why we worked so hard in 2019 to complete Hall 5 and brought various planned renovations and improvements forward. The nhow Amsterdam RAI hotel was completed and opened at the start of 2020. RAI Amsterdam equipped and made ready the underground parking garage to ensure we could make the most of this exciting new development. Proud of our new neighbour and such a landmark building, we were ready to perform to our max in 2020. But COVID-19 made for an entirely different year altogether, one in which we had to make many farreaching decisions based on uncertain developments. In a way, 2020 was a bit of a paradox. The more we knew about the virus and how to handle it within the RAI, the less we were given the opportunity to use this knowledge for our clients, exhibitors and visitors. But the actual start of the year proceeded as usual when we opened the exhibition calendar with Horecava."
Then the outbreak. When did this begin to play a role for the RAI? Maurits: "In view of our international exhibitions and conferences, the RAI quickly started establishing new protocols and effecting new safety measures against COVID. The virus really started to have an impact in the run-up to ISE 2020. A number of exhibitors from Asia were experiencing issues due to flight restrictions, while some originally Asian businesses adapted their travel policy and withdrew from participation. In collaboration with the organisers and exhibitors of ISE we took additional measures to guarantee the safety and welfare of all those involved. This resulted in a successful final edition of ISE in the RAI, with over 1,250 exhibitors and more than 50,000 unique visitors.
“The pandemic wasn’t as much a factor for the national events that immediately followed, such as the Huishoudbeurs and Nine Month Fair, as the virus had not yet been detected in the Netherlands. This was not the case for the 65th and last edition of the HISWA boat show, however. The spread of the COVID-19 virus led to all events in the Netherlands being shut down, which meant that on the second day of the exhibition the government ordered the event to be suspended.”
How did you manage the impact of COVID-19? Maurits: "Our crisis team coordinated the process and communication from the very beginning. A commercial taskforce was dedicated to client relations and managing the postponement and cancellation of events, while an operational taskforce focused on the further development of COVID protocols and managing the consequences for employees and the venue. Our innovation platform accelerated the development of new revenue models such as digital and hybrid events.
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