Tourism economy was heavily hit by COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, paralysing the development of meeting, event and trade fair industries in the Czech Republic. According to the latest Economic Impact study conducted for the CzechTourism agency and the Czech Event Association in summer 2020, a total drop by more than 71% in consumption associated with holding events can be expected, the Prague Convention Bureau said.

The scale of impact on the meetings, event and trade fair industries, which includes mainly congresses, conferences, trade fairs, business, sports and cultural events, is thus enormous. According to the study, total consumption in the sector will be reduced to CZK 27.1-39.3 billion, while it would reach between CZK 99 billion and CZK 131.5 billion under standard circumstances. At the same time, this means a drop in sales in multiplication from the original CZK 196.5-260.5 billion to mere CZK 52.9-77.2 billion. The impact on revenues for public budgets can also be derived from this amount. These would drop by almost 73% to CZK 10.1-14.7 billion. The irreplaceable benefits for public budgets will then drop by more than 94%.

However, the meetings, event and trade fair industries are not only an important part of the economy, but they also are non-negligible sectors in terms of employment. Under standard circumstances, the industry would generate nearly 160,000 full-time jobs in 2020.  Up to 71% of them are now at risk.

Read full article by the Prague Convention Bureau.

Image credit: ICCA, PCB