SPAIN – The Association of Spanish Fairs (AFE) and the Association of Palaces of Congresses of Spain (APCE) have decided to join efforts to request help from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism in order to mitigate the effects of the crisis generated by the COVID-19 and resume Spanish fair and congress activity as soon as possible, the engine of growth in many sectors and the driving of international business.

Both associations, which have a collaboration agreement signed in 2017, estimate that more than 190 fairs and 270 conferences, as well as many other events, have been canceled or postponed in Spain. In Europe, exclusively in the trade fair field, the situation affects more than 3,300 canceled or postponed fairs and the economic damage caused only by the canceled fairs, as planned until the end of June, will be 28.8 billion euros.

In this regard, the President of the Association of Spanish Fairs, Xabier Basañez, has stated that “in a situation as worrisome as the one we are experiencing, our sector, as a relevant part of MICE tourism, must be united and transmit to the Administration the need of decided support to be able to subsist and continue assuming our role as an engine of development for those sectors that help to reactivate the economy and growth of the country”.

The fair and congress activity has been one of the first to suffer the crisis by the immediate cessation of most of the events scheduled in all its venues. From the second week of March up to June, virtually every event has been cancelled or postponed and financial losses in the sector are adding up.