Events across Italy are postponed until after April 3rd as a total lockdown of the country, announced by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Monday, goes into effect.
We spoke with Enrico Jesu, president of MPI's Italy Chapter, and the Chapter's VP of Education, Luca Vernengo, on what the lockdown means for meetings and events.
How is COVID-19 impacting meetings and events in Italy?
Unfortunately, it is having a massive impact. On March 8, the Decree of our Prime Minister obliged everybody to postpone or reschedule any meetings planned in March to after April 3rd, 2020. On top of this, our industry has received many cancellations far beyond the month of April. On a sample of 400 Italian planners who replied to the data collection managed by Convention Bureau Italia and Federcongressi, 2,500 events got lost for cancellations or postponements with an estimated economic impact of 83 billion euros.
What measures are being taken to prevent the virus from spreading further?
Very drastic measures have been taken by our Government. The March 8th Decree limited the possibility of travelling to and from the region of Lombardy and in the provinces of Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Reggio nell'Emilia, Rimini, Pesaro and Urbino, Alessandria, Asti, Novara, Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, Vercelli, Padua, Treviso and Venice. All this until April the 3rd. On March 9th, a new decree limits the possibility of travelling to and from all the Italian regions. This means all of Italy is now quarantined. Furthermore, Italy’s schools. cinemas, theatres, gyms, churches and museums are closed nationwide. The decree requires that people keep a distance of at least one meter from one another at bars and supermarkets.
What steps should planners who have events booked in Italy within the next few months do before deciding whether or not to cancel?
Anyone having events programmed in Italy after Easter should check with their local contacts what the local situation is and decide together on the best measure to take eventually postponing the event to a later date. We ask not to cancel but to only postpone the events planners have for March and April 2020 and to reschedule them for later in the year.
What measures can be taken to protect attendees or visitors that may still be in the country?
For individuals in Italy at the moment for business or pleasure we would follow the indications given by the experts in the March 8th and March 9th decree.
How can others in the industry offer support to MICE events in Italy?
To postpone and not to cancel events in Italy. It is imperative to keep interest in Italy alive even while scheduling events for 2021. Rescheduling your events helps support us economically, and, especially, morally. We’d appreciate receiving the international communities positive referrals on the Italian event industry in a short video clip to send to info@mpiweb.it. We would also like to offer our community free webinars on the use of online sharing tools helpful for our industry and with which not everyone is familiar with.
Where should people look for real-time information on the status of COVID-19 in Italy?
Info on the status of Covid-19 in Italy at the following link https://www.esteri.it/mae/en/
