ITB China is cancelled but Berlin show will go ahead
The organisers of ITB Berlin are insisting it will go ahead but ITB China has been cancelled.
David Ruetz, head of the ITB travel and tourism shows, told the Berlin Spectator said there were no plans to cancel the European travel trade show.
Measures have been put into place to protect exhibitors and visitors.
Organisers say a number of rapid response English speaking medical teams and other health professionals will be on site to deal with any situations that may arise and hand disinfectors will now be provided at all entrances of the exhibition.
They are also increasing the frequency of sanitary facilities being disinfected.
It has not implemented any restrictions to Chinese travellers or to those who have visited China in the last 14 days.
Organisers of the London show have told delegates who have travelled to the UK from mainland China, Thailand, Japan, Republic of Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia or Macau in the last 14 days not to attend the event, which takes place on February 26 and 27
Alternative dates for ITB China have not yet been confirmed.
A statement said the event, scheduled to be held on May 13-15 at Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center, has been postponed based on the current risk evaluation of the COVID19 epidemic by local and global authorities.
"According to the regular report and COVID-19 prevention notification released by the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China recently, the COVID-19 situation in China continues to be challenging and developments in the following months are very hard to foresee at this stage," it said.
"To ensure the safety of ITB China’s exhibitors and visitors, the organisers decided to postpone ITB China 2020, and in a responsible way allow all participants to make necessary arrangements in a timely manner. The ITB China organisers will continue to monitor the situation closely and provide further updates based on official assessments of the overall risk situation."
ITB Asia is due to be held in Singapore in October 21-23.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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