A TALE OF OPTIMISM: 5 MINISTERS SHARE THEIR VIEWS ON THE RECOVERY OF THE BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL EVENTS INDUSTRY IN THEIR RESPECTIVE COUNTRIES WITH IAPCO

Foreword by Ori Lahav, IAPCO President

In December 2019, when COVID-19 started making the headlines, the stories of a lock-down in Wuhan Province sounded unreal, almost dystopic from everywhere else in the world. We looked at the news in disbelief, certain that a lock-down would be impossible for us – economy shut down, schools closed: unthinkable.

We blindly affirmed that the virus would remain distant and contained. After all, measures were taken to keep the virus out of our borders, and we believed that was enough. We were collectively dismissing the nature of a virus and the nature of our societies: in our global environment, borders don’t matter much.

We all know what happened next. The experience was chaotic and uncoordinated. We quickly realised how critical collaboration is.

As I was leading our first IAPCO virtual Council in May 2020, our industry was collapsing. We were in need of a better understanding of what was happening locally, and build a collective answer. We decided to call on national associations of Professional Congress Organisers (PCOs) to share knowledge and leverage local intelligence to propose a global approach. The Strategic Global Task Force of National PCO Associations, under the lead of Monica Freire and now, Alejandro Ramirez Tabche, was born. Using the combined expertise of the 9 associations and IAPCO members, the Task Force created and distributed advocacy guidelines for PCOs worldwide in collaboration with Joint Meetings Industry Council (JMIC).

Over the months, 14 associations joined the group and worked relentlessly to advocate for our industry as recovery plans were being established. I would like to thank each of the members for their outstanding dedication and hard work. Today, we are going a step further: we are bringing together 5 Tourism and Development Ministers to discuss their plans for the future of the meeting and events industry. I interviewed them on 5 key aspects of re-opening the business events sector. Videos of these interviews are available here.

These interviews bring me hope, as optimism and resilience inhabit each of the messages Ministers shared : the road ahead is still long but together we go further.

Denise Guillén, Vice Minister of Tourism, Panama

We are looking at re-opening in July, with progressively adapting our capacity standards. We have built strong biosafety protocols that have met international standards. We are considering implementing the IATA Travel Pass. We feel ready.

Panama has a lot to offer, and we are confident for 2022. We are focusing on sustainability and believe it will be key to future successes.

Michelle Fridman Hirsch, Secretary of Tourism Development, Yucatan, Mexico

The MICE industry represents 1.6% of global income in Mexico - which is a big part of the economy, yet we have to ensure that this is known. We see other industries being more influential despite bringing a smaller share.

The government and business organisations share a common goal: I believe they are the true heroes and the PCO is one of the key players we engage with at government level.

I am very optimistic and confident that we will rise stronger,and hopefully more sustainable, inclusive and with a long term focus. I don’t think it is going to be easy. We will need to be creative and innovative and use technology in our favour, not against us. I believe that in the future we will need extra motivation to travel and thus experiences will be key. We are a strong and resilient industry and we will find a way.

Nigel Huddleston MP, Under Secretary of State (Minister for Sport and Tourism), United Kingdom

Prior to COVID-19, the UK business events industry was worth over £31.2 billion annually in direct visitor spending by event attendees and it employed an estimated 700,000 people. The UK government is committed to getting the sector up and running as soon as it is safe to do so, and has made business tourism a full part of its Tourism Recovery Plan launched in June.

The government is working closely with private sector organisations and associations, such as ABPCO, as they are an important source of data and intelligence.

The UK Tourism Recovery Plan will be regularly adapted to the situation and our knowledge. We are taking a cautious – adaptable and swift approach to re-opening business events. Events of 2022 will be the springboard for visitors to come to the UK again.

We realise much more is still be done, but our ambition is to maintain and increase UK’s attractiveness for international events. This also gives us a chance to reflect on sustainability.

Sofia Zacharaki, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Greece

The professional events and business tourism sector in Greece is highly important. It boosts tourism in quiet times, generates 4 to 5 times more spending, offers a high-end exchange of knowledge, boosts further development, and creates an agenda of substance to Greece. Greece has been a pioneer in re-opening for international events. We are very proud to have initiated the idea for a common EU vaccination digital certificate, which was finally adopted by all member states and came into place in July 1st. I am optimistic about the way forward. This is a long-term opportunity to assess the way we have been doing business, revise our policies and bring more sustainability and more fairness.

The MICE industry has suffered a lot from the pandemic but it is time to get back up and be back stronger. We are working together with the public sector, citizens, private sector towards a strong re-opening of Tourism, facilitating travel and restart of business events.

Remo Monzeglio Deputy Minister of Tourism (Tourism Undersecretary), Uruguay

Uruguay relies a lot on the tourism industry, but we have been closed to tourism, including business tourism, since 13th March 2020. It has been an economic disaster with huge impact.

Our Ministry has worked together with all organizations in related fields, including

AUDOCA – Uruguayan Association of Conference and Events Organizers to elaborate specific protocols for MICE tourism. The sanitary passport is under study following example of other countries.

We believe the events industry will be recovering through 2022 and Uruguay will be one of the first countries to open up in South America, once vaccination and herd immunity is reached and international connectivity resumes. In the long term, our country has lots to offer for the MICE sector.

There has also been a lot of work done between private sector and government, implementing subsidies, tax exemptions and other tools to ease the economic burden which Tourism companies have been enduring during more than a year now.

View all complete video interviews on www.iapco.org