Exhibition Industry Under The Epidemic Situation Stepped On The "Emergency Brake" Again

"The exhibitions in August have been postponed, and it is still unknown when they will be postponed..." Qian Jin, a staff member of Shanghai Juyi Exhibition Service Co., Ltd., told reporters that not only the 2021 Shenzhen international medical device exhibition, which was originally scheduled to be held on August 18, was postponed, but the other exhibitions in Shenzhen in August had the same fate.

At present, the delta virus has caused sporadic cases in many cities in China, and the prevention and control measures are being upgraded all over the country, and these measures directly affect the exhibition industry with a large number of people. According to the incomplete statistics of 21st century economic report, the exhibition industry in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Jinan, Nanjing, Chengdu and other convention and exhibition cities is nearly suspended. Most of the exhibitions in August have been postponed, involving nearly a hundred. The worry of not knowing when to restart the exhibition has once again made practitioners in this industry deeply worried.

Exhibition industry responds quickly

At the end of July, Xinguan epidemic has affected the exhibition industry.

In the early morning of July 29, people were sleeping, but the organizer of China joy sent a message on the wechat public account, saying that "in view of the current domestic epidemic situation, it is decided to further enhance the level of epidemic prevention of the exhibition and conference, and require all personnel entering the exhibition and meeting site to complete nucleic acid detection in Shanghai, To ensure the health and safety of participants. ".

This news is very sudden, because the next day, July 30, 2021 China joy will open in Shanghai. During the exhibition, on the night of July 31, the organizer of ChinaJoy once again issued an announcement to cancel all stage activities such as live performances and competitions, cancel the distribution of gifts and souvenirs inside and outside the venue, prohibit on-site eating and drinking, and require the salesmen to wear gloves.

Coincidentally, on August 1, the organizers of the 31st Qingdao International Beer Festival announced that the related activities would be terminated ahead of schedule. Tourists and citizens entering the venue should hold a negative nucleic acid test report within 24 hours. The organizers also put the beer festival, which was supposed to last for a month, half a month ahead of schedule and ended on August 2. The closing ceremonies were held online.

As the epidemic has become more severe, the control of the large number of activities such as the Convention and exhibition industry seems to be tightening.

The joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council held a press conference on the afternoon of August 4. Mi Feng, spokesman of the National Health Commission and deputy director of the publicity department, introduced that recently, many airports, ports and designated hospitals have successively imported related cases from abroad, causing a certain range of spread. As of 9:00 a.m. on August 4, 17 provinces had reported local confirmed cases or asymptomatic infections. There were 144 medium and high-risk areas in China, the most since the normalization of prevention and control.

The situation of multiple outbreaks and local outbreaks in the whole country requires strict and rapid promotion of regional co investigation of newly found infected persons, and good management of key areas and key personnel to prevent the spread of the epidemic. As a result, local governments have again upgraded their prevention and control measures.

On August 3, Tianjin required strict examination and approval of large-scale gathering activities such as artistic performances, sports competitions, exhibitions and sales. Gansu Province also issued a document demanding reasonable control of offline activities, suspension and postponement of all kinds of mass cultural activities. According to the incomplete statistics of 21st century economic report, 19 provinces (municipalities directly under the central government) such as Liaoning, Jilin and Shandong have issued notices on the control of large-scale activities. All exhibitions in Changsha City, Hunan Province have been suspended.

Forced to suspend in August

The new regulations in various regions have directly affected many exhibitions under preparation, especially those to be held in August.

"Sorry, our show has been postponed." Wang Yang, a staff member of the Organizing Committee of the property management industry expo, told the 21st century economic report that the three exhibitions related to property management industry originally scheduled to be held in Shanghai New International Expo Center from August 6 to 8 were postponed due to the need of epidemic prevention and control. However, it is estimated that it will be difficult to do so in August. He told reporters that all exhibitions in Shanghai were suspended throughout August.

The 21st century economic news reporter searched the exhibition schedule published on the official website of Shanghai New International Expo Center and found that 11 exhibitions had been announced to be postponed, such as Shanghai international aircraft manufacturing technology and engineering exhibition, the fourth Shanghai International cleaning and care products exhibition, China International Coatings Expo, China (Shanghai) wallpaper cloth curtain and home furnishing soft decoration exhibition, etc. The original dates of these exhibitions are from the beginning of August to the middle of August. The organizers of the 4th Shanghai International probiotics Expo said that the company is also in urgent consultation with all parties, and it is expected to decide whether to extend the exhibition around next Tuesday. However, the staff admitted to reporters that according to the current development of the epidemic situation, there is a high possibility of delay.

Shanghai is the leading city in the exhibition industry in China. It pressed the "exhibition pause" button, which undoubtedly pushed down the dominoes of the industry. At present, exhibitions in Nanjing, Changsha, Jinan, Qingdao and other places have been suspended. Chengdu has also postponed a number of activities and exhibitions, including the eighth world line animation exhibition, the Fifth China (Chengdu) tourism scenic spot innovation and Development Expo, etc.

Although there are no new local cases in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, several exhibitions planned for August have also been postponed. Shenzhen Bao'an District government has issued a notice to the exhibition organizers, requiring Shenzhen International Convention and Exhibition Center to suspend holding various exhibition activities for half a month. The exhibition hall of Guangzhou Import and export commodities trade also announced the suspension of the exhibition, including the Guangzhou international tourism exhibition, which was scheduled to start on August 5. As for whether it can return to normal in late August, many exhibition staff are not sure.

A staff member of the Guangzhou Exhibition, who did not want to be named, told reporters that in June last year, all kinds of exhibitions in Guangzhou had gradually returned to normal. At that time, the domestic epidemic situation was relatively stable, and some were only sporadic overseas imports, which were strictly controlled at the entry-exit points. Therefore, the epidemic situation in the past year did not affect daily life, and the exhibition industry also recovered smoothly. However, the epidemic spread rapidly and broke out in many places. Strict control of the crowd was the key word for the prevention and control of the epidemic. He was worried that the strict control measures taken by various places would take the lead in stopping the exhibition industry. After all, the scale of the exhibition industry was huge, and the participants came from all over the country. According to the experience of Guangzhou in the end of may in the fight against delta virus, it will take one month to stop the spread of the virus under the rapid action and multi-party action. This time, the spread of delta virus in many places across the country will not be completely eliminated within one month. Under the influence of this, the exhibition industry may be suspended for more than a month“ If the exhibition industry stops, the whole industry chain will suffer. " The staff member worried.

In February last year, in the haze of the new crown epidemic, hundreds of domestic exhibitions announced postponement or cancellation, and it was not until July last year that it began to recover. Now, the Convention and exhibition industry, which has just recovered for a year, has stopped again. How long does it take for this recovery?