The Events Sector moves a large amount of wealth in the Catalan economy. The professionalism and competitiveness of all the participating actors makes Barcelona constantly be among the 4 world cities with the most attraction for International Congresses.
According to data from the Barcelona Tourism Convention Bureau, the economic impact of the meetings and congresses held in Barcelona in 2019 was 1,761.68 million euros. It should be remembered that this economic data lacks the economic impact of the Fairs and, also, of the Events carried out by companies in the territory and that they are neither meetings nor congresses. For example: Inaugurations, marketing campaigns, product presentations, company anniversaries, teambuilding, trainings, etc.
Being invisible is a principle of excellence in the Events Sector: if you do not see all the preparation and companies involved, it means that the Event is a success. This invisibility principle makes us go unnoticed as a sector:
• There are no economic data aggregated by the Events Sector.
• The leisures and companies that make up the Events Sector are not displayed. There are thousands of companies and freelancers who are directly or indirectly dedicated to Events in Catalonia under very different economic headings.
All companies and freelancers in the Events Sector, stopped working before the UN decreed the State of Pandemic: Most of us began to suffer cancellations from January 2020. Keeping a company alive that practically does not invoice for 12 months is a titanic effort . Not knowing when the activity will be able to recover with a certain normality is agonizing. Some companies have already drawn their blinds forever.
We need to reactivate the sector to maintain both the wealth it generates, the jobs it occupies, the generation of business that creates professional interaction in events, the transmission of key knowledge that takes place at congresses and last but not least importantly, the competitiveness gained over decades of professionalization and specialization in the sector.
For this reason, the Event Companies, as well as the public-private entities Fira de Barcelona, Barcelona Convention Bureau, with the support of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, we take the initiative from the private sector presenting the:
RETURN ACTION PLAN TO EVENTS PROMOTING THE PERFORMANCE OF RAPID ANTIGENS TESTS based on:
- The recognition by the Department of Health of Rapid Antigen Tests as a valid and complementary tool to those sectoral plans already approved by the Events.
- The definition by the Department of Health of what communication it requires from the organizers about the performance and results of the potential Rapid Antigen Tests carried out in each event.
The reactivation of face-to-face events following the recommendations of the Action Plan will have a double positive impact on society: it will reactivate the economy of the events sector (Fairs, Congresses, Corporate Meetings, etc.), it will increase the number of people tested, cutting chains of contagion at an early time and transferring data to the health system for monitoring and control.
