Prague can drop out of the top 10 congress cities. Will Bratislava replace it?
“The reputation could be broken down very quickly. Unlike the hesitant republic, the surrounding countries massively support congresses and fairs, “complains Luděk Vocílka from the Czech Alliance of Professional Congress Organizers in a video interview.
When Prague won the World Anesthesiology Congress for 10,000 participants eight years ago, it was a big halo. Preparations are running until the spring of 2020, when the coronavirus has been reset. Like the entire congress and trade fair industry.
Most popular congress destinations (2017)
Source: ICCA International Congress Association
Prague events can soon be swallowed up by Austria, Germany or Slovakia. Whoever is holding an event in Vienna this year or next year will be hiding under a government umbrella worth 300 million euros. Damage is covered if the covid-19 thwarts the action. Slovaks have pushed 100 million euros to support tourism and the congress industry.
Karel Havlíček (for YES) sought a more subtle program for Czech congresses and trade fairs, amounting to 600 million crowns. He called it COVID Fairs, but is still awaiting approval. Organizers of events such as the World Anesthesiology Congress or the International Engineering Fair refer the government to Antivirus and COVID rents and, from tomorrow (Monday), the COVID gastro closed program.
We are not restaurants. The government just wants to glue it up
He counts on compensation of CZK 400 per day for each employee. According to Luďek Vocílka from the Czech Alliance of Professional Congress Organizers, the government just wants to shut up the congresses by sticking them to restaurants. “This thing was put into the program so that the effort to help congresses, fairs could be stuck. It’s not really help for us. “
What don’t congresses like? “Congresses and trade fairs are not closed establishments. In the original program from the MIT workshop, help was expected as early as March 15, while it has been helping here since October 9. As if spring didn’t exist. And the help is calculated per person and has no logical connection with the loss that the subject suffered, “Vocílka refuses.
At the same time, the congress and trade fair industry fell by about 90 percent last year. “We expected 500 million last year and we will end up at 40, 45. A 90 percent drop. We implemented only two events, one in January and one in September, “says Luděk Vocílka on behalf of his organizing company Guarant International.
Even this year does not offer much hope for trade fairs and congresses. So far, they are moving to virtual, where, however, the yield compared to live action is only a tenth. Or they are postponed to the fall as the “Anesthesiology Olympiad.” The Czechs believe that it will be created. “We have promoted the event across all continents except Antarctica. The cost of marketing is in the millions that they have to pay in advance. Furthermore, the costs of social spaces, staff costs, agency overheads, 25,000 overnight stays in Prague hotels, “says Vocílka.