Wow: the German events industry paints the country red

The Germans have done well, with an impressive, highly visual campaign that recalls the suffering of the events sector: almost 9,000 buildings across the country were lit with red lights in the night from June 22 to 23. With the “Night of Light 2020” campaign, the industry calls for a dialogue with the administration to find solutions to the crisis.

Union of the industry. Associations are united in this action. “The number of supporters and participants from all disciplines of event management clearly shows that we have a big problem” said Tom Koperek, initiator of the campaign. This industry covers more than 150 trades and disciplines and, therefore, does not have a single lobby, although it is in the top 3 in terms of total employment and turnover. The Covid stimulated this union of a multifaceted industry.

A huge industry. Events involve 500 million attendees in normal years in Germany. “The events industry as a whole is one of the largest sectors of the German economy and has around 1 million direct employees”, he says, with “more than 3 million indirect jobs.

Huge impact. As in Spain, the event industry was the first affected by the crisis and is likely to be the last to emerge. Virtually all stand companies, event technology companies, event agencies, catering, stages, venues, fair companies, congress centers, hotels, concert organizers, artists and more are affected. Since the middle of March, the events industry has practically not made any sales… and unlike in other sectors, “sales are lost, they cannot be compensated, nothing is produced that can be stocked “. Organizers stress hope that “politics awaken and enters into a dialogue aimed at finding a solution.”

Insufficient measures. The current aid given to the industry, in the form of credits, is not sufficiente, since the loans cannot be invested to create value, when “there is still no income” and that can cause an over-indebtedness of the interested companies.

Not only in Germany are associations crying out for help for a devastated sector: French associations are also asking the Prime Minister for help.