New Zealand Events Industry Draws Up New Guidelines as the Country Starts to Reopen

According to news reports, New Zealand could reopen much of the country on Monday, allowing gatherings of up to 100 people indoors or outdoors, and opening restaurants and bars, all with social-distancing restrictions. As business events could be among those gatherings, Conventions & Incentives New Zealand, the association of the country's conference and business events industry with more than 460 members, is urging the government to make a clear distinction between business events and mass gatherings to give domestic meetings a solid platform to resume under the new Alert Level 2 (down from Level 3).

CINZ has worked with the Event Venues Association of New Zealand to draw up new business-events guidelines, which have been sent to the Ministry of Health for final guidance before being distributed. The guidelines include the use of registration systems to support any government-based track-and-trace capability, and new recommendations concerning meetings setups to allow for social distancing.

New Zealand has had nearly 1,500 cases of COVID-19 and 20 deaths, but has reported no new cases since May 3. According to The Guardian, New Zealanders have been locked down tight for more than a month; under the plans outlined by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Thursday, residents would be permitted to see friends and family, as long as they track their movements, and do not participate in indoor or outdoor gatherings of more than 100. Weddings, funerals and anniversary celebrations would be permitted.
 

Lisa Hopkins, chief executive of CINZ, said it is crucial the government understands that the meetings industry can operate under a controlled set of "bio-safe" principles and should not be subject to mass-gathering restrictions.
 
"The business-events industry runs highly organized events where we can trace visitors, delegates, speakers and exhibitors, as well as monitor, track and put in place a range of measures that ensure these events comply with government measures on hygiene and physical distancing," Hopkins said in a statement.
 
She added, "We know tourism activities, Air New Zealand and regional airlines, as well as venues, hotels, and food-and-beverage outlets will have specific guidelines under Alert Level 2, and these are all part of the mix when it comes to business events. CINZ has been focused on producing safe meetings guidelines that will provide a framework to ensure that all aspects of an assembly of people attending a business event have been considered."

Hopkins thinks the meetings industry is capable of managing even larger events. "We want the Government to understand that we take the health and safety of attendees and staff very seriously, and after all the great work which has been done by New Zealanders, we don't want to move backwards. In fact we believe we can safely manage indoor business events of up to 500," she said. "All we ask is not to confuse a business event with a mass gathering. One is structured, controlled and managed, the other can be the complete opposite."