Business Bureau, Gulf Today

The ongoing Corona virus crisis hit Saudi Arabia earlier this week with the first case of an infected individual recorded. Saudi authorities were quick to act, quarantining 70 people who were in contact with that individual. Many other precautionary measures have also been taken by the Saudi authorities prior to this and continue to be implemented. After consultation with government authorities, partners and travel industry experts around the world, a difficult decision was made to postpone the Riyadh Travel Fair until beginning of September 2020.

 Bander Al Gryni, General Manager ASAS Exhibitions – organizer of the Riyadh Travel Fair (RTF), said: “We want to thank all our partners for their ongoing support and understanding regarding the postponement of this year’s RTF to the dates from 1st to 3rd of September 2020. We are planning to make the 2020 September edition the biggest event to date, with an increase in both the number of exhibitors and visitors. We expect around 275 exhibitors representing more than 50 countries to take part, with more than 50 national and regional pavilions to share the floor. Once opening our doors, we are planning for more than 30,000 visitors over the three-day period. Naturally, the event will proceed once the general health and safety of all attendees can be assured.”

Riyadh Travel Fair is the largest travel and tourism exhibition & congress in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia attracting visitors and delegates from countries and regions across the Middle East, North Africa, Asia, Australasia, and Europe. Riyadh Travel Fair is a significant annual event where the leading travel and tourism companies and key industry players from Saudi Arabia and the region gather to meet with tourism promotion authorities, hospitality and aviation representatives as well as tourism and tour operator companies under the one roof for three continuous days. While a magnet for travel and tourism professionals, the fair is also open to the general public and is the optimal platform for destinations to introduce their tourist products, attractions, services and investments opportunities to the Saudi Arabian market.

ASAS was established in Riyadh to elevate the professionalism, integrity, client care and results-driven approaches of organizers within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for exhibitions, conferences, gatherings and forums. Today its professional reach expands the whole of Saudi Arabia and extends across the countries of the Arabian Gulf.

ASAS achieved its status as the leading exhibition organizer within the kingdom based on the expertise, professional networks and local know how-of its qualified team, and its administrative and technical efficiencies and specializations. ASAS leads the industry in organizing the largest exhibitions and conferences for ministries, government bodies, authorities, companies and institutions of both private and public sectors. It provides entire turn-key services that ensure the achievement of the goals and targets of the sponsoring bodies.

As part of its vision to widen and improve the level of various industry-based exhibitions and conferences, and in response to the demands of a wide range of its clients both domestic and international, ASAS has initiated the inauguration of a number of exhibitions of its own, including the Riyadh Travel Fair and Saudi Medical Tourism Fair.

Meanwhile, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) updated its analysis of the financial impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) public health emergency on the global air transport industry. IATA now sees 2020 global revenue losses for the passenger business of between $63 billion (in a scenario where COVID-19 is contained in current markets with over 100 cases as of 2 March) and $113 billion (in a scenario with a broader spreading of COVID-19). No estimates are yet available for the impact on cargo operations.

IATA’s previous analysis (issued on 20 February 2020) put lost revenues at $29.3 billion based on a scenario that would see the impact of COVID-19 largely confined to markets associated with China. Since that time, the virus has spread to over 80 countries and forward bookings have been severely impacted on routes beyond China.