24 April, 2020

JobKeeper may not be enough to sustain events community: EEAA

Plastic water bottles, Drinking glasses with pencil and white papers setup on the table prepared for seminar or business meeting in the hotel conference room

The Exhibition & Events Association of Australia (EEAA) believes event companies may require more than the federal government’s JobKeeper payment to deliver events post-COVID-19.

In a letter to the association’s members, EEAA president Spiro Anemogiannis said further stimulus could look like a cash injection to industry small to medium enterprises, or event short-term industry free loans.

Anemogiannis believes that even if events recommence in some form in the second half of the year “a lot of suppliers, operators and even venues may not have the cash flow to enter into contracts to actually deliver” their products or services.

“We are also addressing what the post-COVID event will look like, especially in the short term,” he said.

See more: Are you eligible for the government’s eye-watering $130 billion JobKeeper payment?

Anemogiannis believes the industry needs to provide government a set of protocols addressing the risk factors associated with COVID-19 for suppliers, contractors, exhibitors, and venue operators – not the other way around.

“The EEAA is of the opinion industry needs to solve this problem for government and health agencies rather than be told how we should operate,” he said.

“In other words, we need to provide the solution and the operating framework, rather than be included in any wider public gathering decree.

“The EEAA is working with all relevant industry bodies such as the VMA [Venue Management Australia] to fast-track this.”

Anemogiannis said the events industry would also need to convince the government that, in order to restart the economy, business events will be the best way to reconnect all business – a message the EEAA will deliver officially.

He also offered his thoughts on whether digital and virtual events would replace traditional events in the long term.

“Whilst this may be the case in the very short term, digital products will complement the traditional F2F event – not replace it,” Anemogiannis said.

“Consider sporting events which, up to the early 90s, were reliant on crowd ticket sales and merchandise. [Then] along came big broadcast rights where every game in every sport was telecast live.

“I am sure everyone back then thought that this technological disruption would impact on attendances – well, that did not really happen.”

Anemogiannis said the EEAA and its chief executive Claudia Sagripanti would continue to fight in the interest of the events industry, with updates on its progress to follow.

Featured image credit: iStock.com/Pratchaya

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COVID-19 eeaa JobKeeper Spiro Anemogiannis