
On January 17, commenting on the contingent situation linked to the new restrictions for access to international fairs in Italy due to the health emergency, Maurizio Danese, president of the Association of Italian Fairs – Aefi, an association that brings together Italian exhibitions and fairs, asked the urgent activation of new corridors to allow non-Ema vaccinated international operators to participate in trade fairs in Italy.
“If the Government has decided – as right – not to close the trade fairs, at the same time it must establish clear rules to allow access to all operators on the demand, even those whose vaccines are not recognized by the EMA (European Agency of the drug). With the current rules we risk the cancellation of all major international events, with enormous damage to fair players and above all to Made in Italy companies “.
Association of Italian Fairs: damage to the system
In fact, currently important exhibitions for the reference sector and for the Italian trade fair system are momentarily forced to give up the presence of many operators. In particular, those from China, Russia, Korea, Japan, the Middle East and many other emerging markets for made in Italy.
“A damage to the business of the Italian offer that we ask is resolved as soon as possible. Almost all the international trade fairs of the first two months of this year have already had to postpone to spring, but they risk jumping permanently if a solution to this regulatory gap is not found, which has weighed heavily in the choice of the top players to postpone the major exhibitions ” , concluded the president of the Association of Italian Fairs.
The current rules, based on what Aefi has been able to learn from the available communications, require days of quarantine and / or supplementary vaccinations with vaccines recognized by Ema. These provisions discourage those who have to come to Italy with continuous cancellations by operators, in particular from third countries.