AIPC and UFI Release “Good Practices Guide to COVID-19” for Convention and Exhibition Centres
AIPC, the International Association of Convention Centres and UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, have released a guide to good practices for venues in the management of health and operational challenges specifically relating to the current COVID-19 outbreak.
The Guide will be distributed to all AIPC and UFI members to support them in their ongoing activities.
“This Guide has been created as a collaborative project between our two organisations as a way of emphasising the importance of cooperative action in the face of such an issue and ensuring a greater degree of consistency in the advice and information being provided”, said AIPC President Aloysius Arlando. “It is our hope and expectation that it will serve not only as an important resource in itself but provide links to other sources of information that will make it even more useful to our respective members”.
“While no single resource will be able to capture the full range of information available on such a broad and constantly evolving issue, this Guide offers a framework for response to make it as relevant as possible to the needs of managers” said UFI President Mary Larkin. “As the COVID-19 situation and corresponding impacts evolve, the amount of relevant, practical information and experiences will continue to grow and we will reflect this in future updates”.
The Guide was created as an extension of a related venue security Best Practices document released last year and incorporates insights and experiences from around the world. It focuses on updated convention and exhibition centre health and safety policies, plans and procedures and was assembled with the support, input and review of AIPC and UFI members engaged in a task force set up for this purpose under the overall guidance of a global expert in health and security matters.
The 27-page document incorporates both strategic and practical guidance in the form of advice, suggestions, examples and tips focusing in particular on new, updated and modified information as opposed to simply pre-existing, standard health and safety controls and crisis management plans. The text also includes many ‘live’ document links to allow additional information to be accessed directly, as well as lists of additional key industry and health authority resources that may enhance planning and tactics.
The Guide is available for download by AIPC and UFI members on their respective web sites www.aipc.org and https://www.ufi.org/industry-resources/research/topical-reports/special-industry-topics/. It will also be made available to all members of the industry under an agreement for the reciprocal exchange of relevant resources amongst industry associations.