Covid-19: Government cancels all attended trade fairs scheduled in Italy until 24 November

The DPCM Decree issued by the President of the Council of Ministers on Sunday 25 October to combat new developments in Covid-19 health emergency, means that all physically attended exhibition events, following on from conventions and congresses, will now be off limits unto 24 November.

“The decision taken by the Government to prevent national and international exhibitions being held, after having already closed conferences and congresses, is a massive blow for a sector that has already suffered a great deal.” said Maurizio Danese, President of Veronafiere S.p.A. “This is extremely serious. The sector has already lost 70% of its turnover between March and September. This is now joined by significant damage arising from the immediate suspension of events. Many exhibition centres – just like Veronafiere – were in the midst of preparations for upcoming events that even involved huge investments in promotion and communication.”

Veronafiere in recent months had taken steps to organise its events in total safety thanks to a specific safebusiness prevention protocol validated by health authorities, as well as by integrating physical events with the new opportunities offered by the digital world.

“There is no question that banning physically attended events in Italy,” said Giovanni Mantovani, CEO of Veronafiere S.p.A., “will bring about a further downturn in possibilities for recovery in our sector and for clients who rely on our events as landmarks for their business. Last but not least, we re-scheduled Fieracavalli over two weekends in November with a specific set-up calendar, in addition to its renowned sporting events.”

Veronafiere’s operations will become 100% digital for the Wine2Wine exhibition, OperaWine, wine2wine business forum and B/Open events scheduled 21-24 November, while Job&Orienta (25-27 November), the specific exhibition and conference for schools, training and work had already been programmed exclusively in on-line mode.

The Board of Directors will assess in detail how we can proceed with Verona Mineral Show Geo Business (27-29 November) and ArtVerona (11-13 December), which has already registered more than 120 galleries.

The international calendar remains unchanged, with Wine To Asia in Shenzhen 20-21 November and Vinitaly Russia in Moscow and St. Petersburg in hybrid mode.”