12th May 2020, UK: The National Outdoor Events Association (NOEA) is outlining a ‘Risk Roadmap’ for the industry following the Prime Minister’s announcement at the weekend. The association is also asking government for more detailed information on its own roadmap, and to clarify its commitments to support events-based companies manage their businesses for the remainder of the year.
The announcement comes after the Prime Minister announced it would not be until July when hospitality-based industries would be returning from lock down, and with the anticipation that further outdoor events will need to cancel in the wake of the pandemic. In the meantime, NOEA has released its own advice to members, to offer some level of support while the industry again awaits clarity.
The three areas are:
- Risk to attendees: including everyone from staff, acts / competitors, to spectators. Can the event ensure that everyone who attends the event can attend with minimum risk? This involves crowd management around social distancing, as well as access to consistently ‘clean’ environments
- Risk to business: with the above a pre-requisite of putting on an event, can the event be put on and still be commercially viable with the impact on numbers
- Risk to the event brand: what is the risk to the long-term brand value of the event to either cancel the event, or to hold an unsuccessful (or vice versa) event
Talking on the risk assessments, Tom Clements, President, NOEA commented: “It’s frustrating to have so little information at this stage especially around timings, which is what every business is after to prepare. What the risk assessments can do though is help events to consider their own position on a week by week basis.”
“As an association, all our energy is being put into gaining the information our members need to make business decisions, and the support they will need to maintain their own futures in the wake of this pandemic,” continues Tom. “As an industry we face every kind of risk and need the information to manage it.”
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