The events industry has been overlooked yet again in the latest round of reopenings announced by government. And the Meetings Industry Association (mia) has said the sector is losing patience and questioned the government's priorities.
In Thursday's Downing Street briefing, culture secretary Oliver Dowden announced that pools, gyms and sports facilities will be able to reopen in England and team sports and outdoor gigs resume in England.
Outdoor pools and performances can resume from Saturday with social distancing in place, while beauticians, nail salons and tattooists can reopen from Monday. Indoor gyms, sports facilities and pools will be able to reopen from Saturday 25 July, while guidance is set to be published for team sports to return from this Saturday (11 July). Last week, Boris Johnson said that the events industry could expect a timetable for reopening this week.
Jane Longhurst, chief executive of the Meetings Industry Association (mia) said: "The Meetings Industry Association (mia) is dismayed that there continues to be no acknowledgement of the events sector, which provides £70 billion to the economy and 700,000 highly skilled jobs, in today’s announcement by Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden.
“The sector’s patience is being seriously challenged, with yet again no mention of a sector that underpins the economy in so many cities.
“Through our Road to reopening and operating safely, which is signposted in the government’s own Visitor Economy Guidance, we have comprehensively demonstrated the control measures that can be put in place to safely manage as well as track and trace delegates.
“Unlike many largescale public live events, business meetings and business events are well organised and properly resourced activities that government should be supporting as a catalyst for recovery.
“There are so many lessons that the government can learn from initially reinstating business meetings that can then provide insight and protocols for other larger live activities such as major sporting, leisure or cultural events.
“The devastating impact will be widespread. There will be thousands of redundancies across the whole of our sector and the thousands of organisations reliant on the business meetings and events industry – raising questions over the government’s priorities.”
Michael Begley, managing director of venuedirectory.com said “The vast array of hotels and resorts on our 20,000 venue database will soon be able to open every area and facility, from bars to spas, golf to pools - except their conference and meeting rooms.
“The facilities are all ready, compliant with safe meeting guidelines. All the owners need is a date for reopening.
“Many people forecast that business meeting and events may be the last industry to reopen and recover. It looks as if they were right.”
M&IT editor Paul Harvey is a journalist with more than 15 years of experience. He began his career in the local press, working for various titles across the north. Since joining M&IT in 2013, he has become a trusted and respected voice in the sector, championing event professionals and reporting on all aspects of the events industry for the brand.
