It does not come as a surprise and it was something that had been seen coming for days: the GSMA, in charge of organizing the Mobile World Congress 2020, decided yesterday to suspend the largest mobile event in the world that was going to take place in Barcelona from 24 to 27 February 马其顿电话号码表. The coronavirus crisis had caused dozens of companies to back down and cancel their participation in the fair: From LG to Facebook, through Amazon and Sony. The MWC20 had its days numbered.
The problem that arises here, once the event is canceled, is all the economic losses that this entails for the organization and for the city of Barcelona. The hotel sector, the hospitality industry in general, businessmen and taxi drivers will suffer in their own flesh the cancellation of the most important event that Barcelona was to host this year. And it is that, thousands of people were going to be those days in the Catalan capital to enjoy the novelties that the different brands were going to present in the pavilions of the Fira.
According to eldiario.es, the CEO of GSMA -John Hoffman- indicated the forecasts of what an event of this magnitude would entail: 110,000 visitors, 492 million euros and 14,100 temporary jobs that will disappear at a stroke. They are not the only ones who will see their financial balances in jeopardy. In fact, the GSMA itself could see its future in jeopardy when it must pay millionaire compensation to those affected. On the other hand, businessmen have also seen how – little by little – they were losing steam due to the fall of the different technological giants.
On the other hand, the hospitality and transport sector will also be affected by the non-arrival of visitors. In fact, as the media points out, the VTC had already suffered 33% of its reservations and the non-hiring of 1,500 drivers who would travel to congress to work those days. There are also 40,000 rooms reserved that will see how they are falling due to the cancellation, 28,000 of them have been reserved by the organization itself. To this must be added the offer of tourist apartments that will see how 14 million euros will disappear from their annual turnover.
It should also be noted that the tickets, with a price ranging between 800 and 5,000 euros, will be canceled and they will have to make a refund of the cost of the tickets, which will be a financial blow to the GSMA and the Fira de Barcelona, which had reserved their space for the celebration of the event. It would be necessary to shuffle if the fair will make a final sprint to rent those spaces and that the cost will not be so hard.
At MarketingDirecto.com we wanted to contact some of the companies that were part of the business plan that was supposed to be present at the event. For its part, Amazon points out that they have nothing more to contribute than their official statement: “Due to the outbreak and continuing concerns about the new coronavirus, Amazon will withdraw from exhibiting and participating in MWC20, scheduled for February 24-27. in Barcelona, Spain ».
With @PHortiguela @ 24h_tve and the terrible news that the Mobile World Congress # MWC2020 is being canceled pic.twitter.com/c0SOQIOV99
- Javier Piedrahita (@jpiedrahita) February 12, 2020
LG Electronics, which was the first company to withdraw their participation in the event, claim to feel “frustrated” at having missed this opportunity that is organized for a full year: “The cancellation was a surprise but after dozens of companies, you suppose it is something that can be produced. We are withdrawing because – following the WHO alert as an international health emergency – we have always prioritized the health and safety of all our employees, customers, partners and users “, Helena Mayoral, LG Marketing Manager, told this media in Spain.
At the moment, LG is in the middle of organizing its own internal events in which they will show their novelties focused on 5G and the double screen that, “with great regret”, they have not been able to present at MWC20. Nor will they do it in other international events because, as Mayoral points out, they have also been canceled.
The mobile phone company Vodafone has also sent a statment on his departure from the congress and they do not add much more about the cancellation. In which they note that they “look forward to attending the next Mobile World Congress as one of the flagship events of the year for the communications and technology industries.”
To these economic losses must also be added the damage in terms of reputation that China and its companies have to face. After the image of an advanced society that the country had achieved with the World Expo and the Olympic Games, China faces an image crisis that affects not only the business level, but goes further in a collective perception that threatens to fill with mistrust at times 社交帖子.
