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How to Prevent the Spread of Coronavirus at In-Person Events - Part 1

It's still recommended that vaccinated travelers wear a face mask that covers their mouth and nose, maintain six feet of distancing, avoid crowds, self-monitor for symptoms, and wash their hands frequently or use hand sanitizer. People are considered fully vaccinated at least two weeks after receiving the single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, or the second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. The latest guidance, which says fully vaccinated travelers are less likely to get and spread Covid-19, could help accelerate the meetings industry's recovery.

Guidelines for Events

Meeting organizers preparing for shows scheduled in 2021 and beyond must consider the health and safety of attendees and staff at every step of the planning process. Guidance is provided for resuming events, with details on how to evaluate the risk levels and key actions that can help prevent the spread of the virus. Cleanliness protocols are also covered.

Event organizers are encouraged to follow state and local regulations on gatherings. Meeting planners should continually monitor the outbreak and make adjustments to the event plan as needed.

"Event planners should work with state and local health officials to implement this guidance, adjusting to meet the unique needs and circumstances of the local community," reads the document. However "this guidance is meant to supplement — not replace — any state, local, territorial, or tribal health and safety laws, rules, and regulations with which gatherings must comply."

The following is extrapolated from the recommendations.

Risk Factors to Consider

The number of Covid-19 cases within the community: High or increasing levels of local infection could increase the risk of spread among attendees.
Potential for exposure during travel: Airports, airplanes, bus stations, buses, train stations, trains, and public transport are all places where physical distancing might be challenging and ventilation could be poor.
Length of the event: Longer meetings pose a greater risk. Being within six feet of someone who has Covid-19 for a total of 15 minutes or more (over a 24-hour period) greatly increases the risk of becoming infected.
The setting: Indoor events, especially in places with poor ventilation, pose more risk than outdoor events.
The number of people attending: The more people there are at an event, the greater the likelihood of exposure. Planners must also consider crowding, and should implement modified room layouts or block off seats to ensure social distancing.
Behavior or attendees: Events, where people do not maintain physical distancing and/or do not wear a mask correctly, can increase the risk of contagion.

For meetings that are scheduled to go on, the following recommendations apply:

Considerations for Cancelling or Postponing

How many people are expected to attend? The more people an individual interacts with at a gathering and the longer those interactions are, the higher the risk of transmission.
How many of the attendees are more vulnerable to Covid-19? Older adults and people with pre-existing conditions are considered to be at higher risk.
How close will the attendees be? Person-to-person spread is most likely to occur within close contact of six feet or less.
Are there any ways to reduce the number of attendees? Setting up socially distanced seating can help reduce the risk of transmission.
What is the level of transmission within the local communities? Some areas have been harder hit than others. They recommend consulting with the local or state public health department.

We will share more on how to go about before, during, and after the event.

How to Keep Attendees Safe at In-Person Events

Although life is surely but slowly returning to normal we still have to maintain the idea of keeping attendees safe as we are gradually opening up for in-person conferences and events.

Here are the top questions planners should ask hotels and venues, according to new health and safety guidelines from the Events Industry Council.

Questions for Event Organizers to ask Hotels/Venues:

Health and safety

1. What can we expect to see as health and safety protocols at each stage of the attendee’s journey?
2. What health and safety practices are in place for hotel/venue workers?
3. Will the hotel be providing health screenings?
4. What protocols are in place to limit cross-contact between attendees of different events?
5. What accessibility protocols are in place to meet the needs of people with disabilities?
6. Are there wayfinding considerations for directing attendees to the meeting rooms to support social distancing, and are accessible routes clearly indicated?
7. Is the hotel complying with any existing protocols, and how is this being monitored for quality and performance?
8. If a guest or attendee tests positive for Covid-19, what is the protocol for the individual, and what meeting space and guest-room recovery policies will the hotel implement?
9. If a hotel employee tests positive for Covid-19, what measures are in place to protect other workers and the group, and how will you initiate contact tracing?
10. For larger events, have you designated separate entrance and exit points for all your ballrooms/meeting space, and is this also established for staff accessing back-of-house areas?
11. What room setup options do you have in order to keep the group physically distanced?
12. Do you offer linenless tables and how are your chairs being disinfected?
13. What food-and-beverage safety protocols have the hotel implemented?
14. Can we do a safety-related site inspection of the hotel, and is there an option to do this virtually?
15. Where possible, can you share an experience where you already implemented all of these health and safety measures

Communications

16. Can you share your crisis response and communication plan?
17. Is there online information about the hotel’s practices that can be shared with guests and attendees?
18. What information, and in what formats (e.g. digital, print, large print, braille), can the hotel provide regarding health and safety protocols that will be in place during the event?

Technology

19. What is the technology infrastructure to support a hybrid meeting model?
20. What are the digital capabilities (bandwidth, etc.) for hybrid events? Can we use some of your meeting rooms as studios?
21. Is the audiovisual equipment built into the meeting room, or portable and installed for the event?
22. What sanitization protocols are in place for cleaning high-touch AV, including controllers, between sessions and overnight?
23. Are paperless flipcharts available?

Sustainability and social impact

24. What measures will the hotel implement to reduce landfill waste due to the increased use of single-use items?
25. What other CSR actions is the hotel/venue taking during these times, and how can the event participants be part of these?

We hope the above information assists and can guide the industry with our "new normal"

Africa Travel Week 7-9 April 2021

A nexus for travel professionals across South Africa, the continent and the globe, Africa Travel Week plays hosts to various shows, conferences and award ceremonies focusing on leisure tourism, luxury travel, LGBTQ+ travel, MICE/business travel, sport tourism as well as travel technology.

With less than 2 weeks until the start of the fully virtual Africa Travel Week, the Exhibitor Portal will open for exhibitors to update their profiles and set up appointments with you. A friendly reminder to take some time out for our Product Showcase, speed networking sessions and panel discussions with industry experts on a range of topics, from the Gen Z traveller and the changing landscape of the outbound market, to rethinking tourism planning to deal with uncertainty, and leveraging domestic tourism, among many other captivating industry relevant topics. You can check out some of the exciting panel discussions and presentations planned in our Content Programme

Africa Travel Week’s digital arm, ATW Connect is a virtual hub packed to the seams with interesting content, industry news and insights, and the opportunity to hear from experts on a variety of topics in our new monthly webinar series. All with the aim to keep all of us in the travel and tourism industry connected.

And while we’ve set our sights firmly on our virtual show in April for now, rest assured that ATW has lined up a collection of events throughout the year to #UnlockAfrica.

Conference programme - subjects that will be covered

Rebuilding African Tourism
Domestic tourism to the rescue
WELLNESS HOUR | Why uncertainty is actually a gift in these uncertain times
The importance of ethics and sustainability in influencer marketing
Digitalisation – A Growth Imperative for Tourism SMEs
Session powered by FEDHASA
Can Gen Z save the travel industry?

Conference News: March 2021 Product Update Round Up

Products like event management systems, resources & apps etc are designed and created to increase engagement and simplify usage for the industry as a whole.

Herewith product updates below into a brief summary:

Recent Releases

Event Intelligence & Insights

Cvent has partnered with DOMO to offer an elite business intelligence reporting solution for Conference Event Planner. Build reporting dashboards for the event planning team, automate alerts on critical KPIs, schedule data to be delivered to key stakeholders on set intervals or ad hoc, provide event program and year-over-year variance reporting, and a mobile application to access the breadth of features from your phone or tablet.

When to use: Business Intelligence is a cornerstone of any successful organization or project. Empower your planning team with an easy-to-use tool that allows them to meticulously track and report on KPIs to ensure event objectives are being met and stakeholders are always kept in the loop.

Who would use: Event Planners, Content Managers, Revenue Managers, Sponsorship Managers, Marketing Managers, and Executive Stakeholders.

Attendee Resource Center – Session Waitlists

Attendees will be able to easily see which sessions are full, but offer a waitlist so that they can reserve their spot in line. As an added, optional benefit, choose to have waitlisted attendees automatically enrolled if space opens up in the session and trust us to handle all the necessary communications and enrollment updates.

When to use: Use Session Waitlist on popular sessions when you know enrollment demand will be high from your Attendees. Allow attendees to hold their place in line so that they be automatically informed if a spot becomes available.

Who would use: Content Managers, Session Track Owners, Event Marketers, Group Registration Managers, Program Managers.

Attendee Resource Center – 1:1 Meetings

Attendees and Sponsors now both have all the tooling needed to schedule meetings with features to ensure double-booking is always prevented when desired.

When to use: 1:1 Meetings are a critical tool for offering an elite Attendee Engagement experience for your event. Connect your Attendees to other Attendees or to Sponsors and Content presenters. Put the tool in the hands of your Attendees and Sponsors to ensure provide a seamless scheduling experience that ensures your business rules for scheduling are enforced and Attendees don’t get double-booked for meetings or sessions.
Who would use: Registration Managers, Marketing Managers, Sponsor and Exhibitor Managers, Content Managers.

Exhibitor Resource Center – Credit Card Transaction Fees

The Conference Exhibitor Resource Center now offers Exhibitor/Sponsor Managers the ability to Charge Credit Card Transaction fees to Exhibitors/Sponsors directly to the Exhibitors Credit Card used for purchase. The Exhibitor payment experience has been updated to ensure Exhibitors are well-informed of the additional charge and invoicing is properly managed.

When to use: Sponsorship packages aren’t cheap, and neither are the transaction fees associated with them. Planners now have the option to Apply Credit Card Transaction Fees to the Exhibitor’s payment card.

Who would use: Sponsor Managers, Marketing Managers, Revenue Manager

Applications open for Events in Cape Town

Applications open for gatherings with limited participants, the City of Cape Town's Events Permit Office is ready to receive and process permits.The Events Permit Office will only accept and process applications for events not exceeding 250 participants.

Current Disaster Management Act regulations, gazetted on Monday, only allow for gatherings with a maximum of 100 participants for indoor facilities and 250 attendees for outdoor gatherings.

‘The Events Office has been preparing over the last two and a half months to ensure staff are ready to resume the permitting process and provide support to event organisers. It is also important to note that despite the easing of regulations, the safety of all patrons, officials and participants remains our priority. Therefore, in order for event permits to be approved, event organisers have to comply with all hygiene, health and safety protocol requirements,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith. The City has developed Protocols for Hosting Safe Events during Covid-19, which guide event organisers on the procedures to follow in order to secure a permit. These are available on the City’s website.

The protocols are in line with the Disaster Management Act and National directives.

The City’s enforcement services will emphasise the sanitising of hands, social distancing and that masks be worn at all times during these events.

Annually, the permit office usually approves more than 1,000 events.

These events annually contribute more than R3bn to the local economy and provide more than 30 000 permanent and temporary jobs to the value chain.

‘We welcome the decision to allow gatherings because this is an important industry which thousands of families rely on for their livelihoods. It is also a major catalyst for economic growth across a wide range of sectors including tourism, hospitality, transportation, security, etc. It is important now, more than ever, for all those in the events value chain to collectively work towards a recovery strategy and the City will continue its role as an economic enabler,’ added Alderman Smith.