USA. The 2020 Duty Free & Travel Retail Summit of the Americas, due to be held on 30 March-2 April in Orlando, has been cancelled due to the escalating COVID-19 outbreak.
International Association of Airport Duty Free Stores (IAADFS) President & CEO Michael Payne told The Moodie Davitt Report, “It’s simply the right thing to do. So many things have changed since you and I last spoke [on 13 February, when the show was still set to take place as scheduled]. We have been angsting over it a bit but things [with the health crisis] have moved really fast over the past few days.”
ASUTIL Secretary General José Luis Donagaray told us: “First of all, we are talking about human lives. So that’s the first decision. It is not an economic decision, it is about life. We cannot put people at risk.”
In a statement the organisers said: “After careful consideration, IAADFS and ASUTIL have made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 Duty Free & Travel Retail Summit of the Americas, scheduled for March 30 – April 2 in Orlando, Florida.
“The organisations have been monitoring developments regarding the coronavirus (COVID-19) and have been following the information about this outbreak from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), among others. The associations have also been in contact with a number of exhibitors, attendees and other stakeholders.
“The duty free and travel retail industry is a vibrant and close-knit community that is dependent on international travel, and the associations’ priority is to always act in the best interests of all of their partners. The ongoing spread of COVID-19 has resulted in mounting concern over health safety, along with increased travel advisories and government health warnings – including the State of Florida’s 1 March declaration of a public health emergency. It has become clear that the most responsible path forward is to cancel the 2020 Summit of the Americas.
“IAADFS and ASUTIL regret that they have had to come to this decision, and they appreciate the understanding and the ongoing support that their members, exhibitors and attendees have shown for the 2020 Summit of the Americas. They will be issuing full refunds of all exhibit space rental fees and registration fees and expect to have this refund process completed by Friday, 13 March for refunds of payments that were received by credit card, with refunds via check or electronic transfer to take up to an additional two weeks.
“They encourage anyone who has booked room reservations for the 2020 Summit of the Americas to submit their cancellation of these reservations as soon as possible to minimise any cancellation penalties that may apply.
Comment by Martin Moodie: This is an understandable, laudable and correct decision by IAADFS and ASUTIL. With the crisis escalating by the day, the US infection count (now 106) rising steadily, and various travel limitations being imposed by airlines and businesses, the organisers had little choice.
Travel retail attention now moves to the TFWA Asia Pacific show due to be held in Singapore (10-14 May). TFWA Management Committee meet this Thursday and Friday (March 5-6) in Barcelona with the fate of the show top of the agenda. As we stated earlier, a repeat of the SARS-prompted 2003 cancellation now seems increasingly likely, especially given the severity of the crisis in many Asian countries, including Singapore (currently 110 cases). “It would be a difficult decision but one likely to be understood and widely supported by the travel retail community,” we wrote on Sunday.
The announcement by IAADFS and ASUTIL makes any such TFWA decision less difficult. These are tough times for travel retail and trade shows, usually so important to the trade calendar, must take a back seat until the climate improves.
