The president of the International Congress and Convention Association, James Rees, has issued a plea for governments "on all sides" to end the "escalating hostilities in Ukraine."
The diplomatic language suggests the industry’s associations are finding it harder than their for-profit counterparts to articulate a response to the horrors unfolding in eastern Europe.
“It is particularly hard to witness such devastation in countries where we normally work together, in partnership, so our thoughts at this time are with our members, friends and colleagues in both Ukraine and Russia who are being directly affected by this action,” Rees said in a statement.
“ICCA is an association that advocates for all of our global members, prizing knowledge exchange and internationalization, where differences are challenged through debate and discussion. We call on governments on all sides to do everything possible to end hostilities and meet to negotiate a peaceful resolution to this conflict.”
Associations – most of whom are ‘non-political’ or ‘non-partisan’ as per their statutes – face a difficult choice in deciding whether or not to impose sanctions on their Russian members. Some, like the footballing bodies FIFA and UEFA have effectively suspended Russia’s membership by kicking them out of all sporting competitions. Elsewhere GSMA, the international association behind Mobile World Congress, has barred the Russian pavilion from the event currently taking place in Barcelona, and issued a strongly worded statement condemning Russia’s "invasion of Ukraine."
It is highly unlikely meetings industry bodies will take comparable action.
Lancaster continued with information from UFI, the global association for the exhibition industry.
