Out of breath and hard hit by the pandemic, the Quebec exhibition industry calls on the government and public health to distinguish between exhibitions and gatherings, in order to resume its activities as quickly as possible.
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Since last March, approximately 225 shows have been canceled, according to the Association des Professionnels en exposition du Québec (APEQ).
For the duration of the health crisis, the president of QPAT, Dominique Gagnon, estimates that several hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of jobs have been lost.
“These are a lot of losses and they are final. We cannot go back and they risk increasing depending on the risk of the recovery in the fall, ”Mr. Gagnon drops.
Photo Jean-François Desgagnés
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The president of QPAT asks the government and public health to give them a reopening date, while separating their field of activity from the category of gatherings.
“We need a reopening date to secure our future,” he said, adding that the industry is aiming for the fall for the recovery.
Photo Jean-François Desgagnés
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While a second wave is upon us, Mr. Gagnon believes that the industry is still capable of meeting health requirements.
“We will not play ostrich, we are well aware of the current situation, the curve on the rise,” he adds.
Photo Jean-François Desgagnés
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“We’re doing business”
In partnership with other organizations, QPAT has produced a guide to health measures for tourism. This guide was approved by the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) on 1is last july.
“But we don’t do tourism. We make tourism move, but we do business, would like to remind Mr. Gagnon. We don’t do gatherings or social events. The industry is conducive to trade and purchases that promote Quebec’s economic development. “
Photo Jean-François Desgagnés
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Yves Watier, promoter, advanced on concrete measures to ensure compliance with hygiene measures in the exhibition industry, while being excluded from the restriction of 50 people maximum in a closed place.
“Like shopping malls, exhibition patrons don’t come together in groups to socialize and network. They are not static, they circulate on the site in a controlled and orderly manner, ”he argues.
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