ITB Berlin 2020 cancelled for health safety of visitors
Travel Biz News —
ITB Berlin 2020 is cancelled keeping a close watch on the health and safety of visitors and exhibitors from more than 180 countries.
“Due to the rapid spread of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) the Federal Ministry of Health and the Federal Ministry of Economics have stated their opinion that ITB Berlin be cancelled. The responsible health authority of the district of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf in Berlin imposed significantly tighter restrictions on holding the event, “ Messe Berlin said in a statement.
“Among its requirements the authority stipulated that each participant would need to prove to Messe Berlin that they were not from a designated risk area or had not been in contact with a person or persons from a risk area. It is not possible for Messe Berlin to satisfy these requirements overall.”
Messe Berlin had for weeks made it known that a decision on holding or cancelling large-scale events would only be taken based on the recommendations or instructions of the relevant specialist authorities.
Dr. Christian Göke, CEO of Messe Berlin GmbH, said: ”With more than 10,000 exhibitors from over 180 countries ITB Berlin is extremely important for the world’s tourism industry. We take our responsibility for the health and safety of our visitors, exhibitors and employees very seriously. It is with a heavy heart that we must now come to terms with the cancellation of ITB Berlin 2020.”
With around 10,000 exhibitors from more than 180 countries and an overall attendance of 160,000 ITB Berlin is the World’s Leading Travel Show. The next ITB will take place on 10-14 March, 2021.
WHO : global risk of the coronavirus very high
The World Health Organization ( WHO) has upgraded the global risk of the coronavirus outbreak to “very high”, but the UN body said there was still a chance of containing the virus if its chain of transmission were broken. More than 50 countries have now reported cases of coronavirus.
More than 80,000 people have been infected and about 2,800 have died due to coronavirus so far – the vast majority in China’s Hubei province.
February 29 , 2020
Photo; Messe Berlin
