The main European association of exhibition venues faces the recovery of activity in the Covid context
Ricard Zapatero, director of International Business at Fira de Barcelona, new president of EMECA
Ricard Zapatero, director of International Business at Fira de Barcelona, has been elected as the new president of EMECA (European Major Exhibition Centers Association), the most important association of trade fair venues in Europe, for the coming years 2021 and 2022, a period that will be of great relevance for the recovery of trade fair activity as a key instrument of economic dynamism in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Formed in 1992, EMECA, based in Brussels, is comprised of 24 large exhibition venues throughout Europe that cover more than 100,000 m2 and, together, organize or host 2,000 events each year, with the participation of over 500,000 exhibitors and more than 38 million visitors.
The new president of the European trade fair organization, Ricard Zapatero, stressed that “the year 2021 will be key to the recovery of activity at the venues, which have been particularly struck by the Covid-19 pandemic and in this sense, the generalization of rapid tests for exhibitors and visitors can be of great help for the reactivation.” “I am certain – he added – that the exhibition and congress industry will be of great importance in the much-needed economic recovery and in the unavoidable transition of companies towards digitization and sustainability“.
In the past two years, Ricard Zapatero has been one of the six members of the Board of Directors of EMECA, which also has different working committees aimed at developing initiatives in favor of trade show infrastructures and the improvement of services to operators, exhibitors and visitors.
Barcelona, November 4th 2020
Fira de Barcelona Press Office
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