Florence, 30th June 2020. Firenze Fiera Sicura (Safe Firenze Fiera) is the new regulatory and organisational safety protocol launched by Firenze Fiera – Congress & Exhibition Center for the resumption of events inside the Florence congress & exhibition citadel.

This project (click here to view the complete document and download the infographics) was created in compliance with anti-COVID-19 health provisions, and in line with the documents drawn up by AEFI (Associazione Enti Fieristici Italiani –  Italian Exhibition and Trade Fair Association), EMECA (European Major Exhibition Centres Association), FEDERCONGRESSI, and UFI (Union Foires Internationales).

Our goal is to offer our clients a sort of “passport” to access a COVID-free congress and exhibition centre, implementing all the essential procedures to guarantee compliance with regulations in force – body temperature measurement through thermal scanners upon access, interpersonal distancing, providing PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), cleaning and sanitising spaces constantly by specialized companies, and the possibility for all the company employees of carrying out a serological screening on a voluntary basis.

With the reopening of congresses and exhibitions in Tuscany scheduled for 13^th June 2020, this protocol is an accurate “handbook” featuring over 50 points to welcome anyone in complete safety, helping them organise all the various steps to carry out their event – starting from next September – inside our venues.

A digital platform to plan appointments during fairs and exhibition will be available for our clients, along with the exclusive use of online ticket office and electronic payment, access to provisions on COVID-19 through dedicated integrated apps and signs, and hand sanitizing gel dispensers available throughout the congress and exhibition centre. Scheduled and limited accesses according to the new capacity of each pavilion will be organised, along with security lanes and interpersonal distancing signs, and information updated in real time on facilities available in the city, in co-operation with Destination Florence CVB.

Within this whole new and changing world of events, restarting with new hybrid formats and looking forward to progressively reacquiring larger live spaces,  Firenze Fiera’s offer looks  even more attractive and competitive on the global market, thanks to the restyling of some of its venues – the Nazioni Pavilion, a privileged location for large corporate events – and to the versatility of its offer, featuring historic halls, modern pavilions and outdoor areas which, in this delicate post-COVID Phase 3, appear particularly interesting and functional to the request of increasingly wide and open spaces.

Watch the VIDEO: Firenze Fiera is ready to welcome congresses, exhibitions and meetings in complete safety (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rodjpA88lY8)

Florence, 4^th June 2020. Restarting with even more attractive, functional, and competitive congress and exhibition areas – this is Firenze Fiera’s motto. During the lockdown, the company never really stopped. Taking advantage of all the events rescheduled from September onwards, it carried out a series of restyling and enhancing operations for its venues.

A great example is the Nazioni Pavilion, a multifunctional building covering an area of 2,000 square metres within the Fortezza da Basso. Thanks also to its elevated heights, allowing the set-up of wide sceneries, in these last years it has become the leading pavilion to organise big corporate events on a national and international scale – such as financial meetings, or the amazing Christmas party organised by the Stefano Ricci Florence fashion house – as well as  a privileged location for some major exhibition and event companies such as Pitti Immagine Uomo.

The renovation project is fully consistent and in line with the high quality standards characterising the Florence exhibition centre, featuring a new high-density, industrial concrete flooring with an all-black surface, combining “ethic” long-term investment principles and a touch of contemporary elegance.

Among the highlights of the Nazioni Pavilion, which also features new toilets and a new air conditioning system, the presence of a dedicated gate  – Porta Mugnone – for vehicles such as shuttles and big tour buses, the closeness of its entrance to the  Stazione-Fortezza-Fiera Underground Parking, and the opportunity to benefit from an indoor parking, facing the building.

WATCH THE VIDEO https://youtu.be/3HzERhoBTl4

Florence, 22^nd May 2020 – No less than 100,000 visitors attending 74 events are ready to arrive in Florence. These are the estimates by Firenze Fiera concerning MICE events within its premises, once the government gives green light to reopen this sector. More specifically, by December 2020, 50,000 people will be participating in the events organised at the Fortezza da Basso and at Villa Vittoria for 56 congresses and events already booked, and at least 50,000 other visitors are expected to attend fairs and exhibitions such as Pitti Immagine Uomo, rescheduled from 2^nd to 4^th September, Didacta Italy (28^th – 30^th  October) and MIDA – the 84^th International Artisan Fair, to be held from 16^th to 20^th December.

The attendance estimated for fairs and congresses will be confirmed if all the anti-Covid safety regulations currently in force will be respected – health check upon access to premises, monitoring of social distancing, automatic check of PPEs (personal protective equipment), cleaning and sanitizing all the areas. But there is more to it: encouraged by institutions, stakeholders and Firenze Fiera, the Destination Florence Convention & Visitors Bureau is setting up a real Covid-free itinerary for visitors participating in congresses and exhibitions, from their arrival in the city to their departure.

«We decided to invest in DFCVB as an enabler to promote the recovery of high-end tourism, and that is why Firenze Fiera has resolved to increase its share capital. The next step will be publishing a calendar of the events in the city featuring the number of visitors expected every week, so that companies can plan their own activities better», said Leonardo Bassilichi, President of Firenze Fiera.

Lastly, the board of directors of Firenze Fiera, whose mandate is about to expire, approved the final balance of 2019 with an output value of 18.9 million Euros, an EBITDA of 1.8 million Euros, and an annual result of 110.000 Euros, which is particularly positive if compared with the business plan, which forecasted a loss of approximately half a million Euros. «Thanks to a network created between the Florence Municipality, the Region of Tuscany and other institutions, we managed to have such figures, thanks also to investments to relaunch the whole sector, among which MIDA – the International Artisan Fair – and without being able to use Palazzo degli Affari, whose renovation works will be completed in 2021. These are all major investments, which, along with the ones expected for the Fortezza, will give the impetus to overcome 2020,  a year inevitably marked by health emergency, but also partially recoverable if the government gives us the opportunity to start again soon», concluded Bassilichi.

Florence, 13th May 2020. While waiting for the Official Protocol including all the Government guidelines to reopen its congress and exhibition centre, Firenze Fiera is gearing up to be ready for the resumption of events.

The basic rules to implement when venues will be reopened have already been prepared – health check, social distancing, use of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment, cleaning and sanitizing all the areas. To check safety standards and their related protocols, a Task Force was set up, formed by a  multidisciplinary team of physicians experienced in the field of hygiene and biohazard, lawyers in charge of constantly monitoring the development in standards, and fair representatives experts in the site and event management.

Once emergency will be over, the premises of the Florence congress and exhibition centre will once again be one of the most charming and extraordinary locations in Italy to organise on-site fairs and congresses, offering a completely renovated setting, as well as unique, emotional and high-tech spaces. Meanwhile, Firenze Fiera’s staff rescheduled all the events planned for these months in safety. Many of them have already been moved to the second half of 2020.

Among them, Pitti Immagine Uomo no.98, set to take place from 2^nd to 4^th September, and Pitti Immagine Bimbo no.90, on schedule from 9^th to 10^th September, while MIDA – the 84^th International Artisan Fair – will take place from 16^th to 20^th December 2020.

As far as medical-scientific congresses are concerned, new dates were arranged for the 94^th SIDEMAST Congress (Italian Society of Dermatology) – from 3^rd to 6^th November at the Fortezza da Basso. The 19^th Gynecological Endocrinology World Congress 2020 will take place in this same venue from 2^nd to 5^th December 2020.

While waiting for Phase 2, a VIRTUAL MEETING ROOM was set up inside Palazzo dei Congressi. Set to remain operational even after the end of the emergency, it is a real ‘television studio’ connected  to a powerful streaming service, which allows to record and broadcast high quality speakers’ presentations and multimedia contents with professional cameras for an audience of global users remotely connected through laptops, tablets, or smartphones.

New versatile and adaptable high-tech formats are being studied, functional to the new emerging scenarios of the congress and exhibition sector after the pandemic, particularly in the first place, when on-site events will have necessarily to be integrated with the full potential and performances offered by the digital world. Virtual booths are also being experimented, to be associated with the ‘real’ ones, and which will be particularly used in the next months by international buyers and professionals for BTB events and international congresses.

According to the last data provided by FEDERCONGRESSI&EVENTI, the events sector has a direct impact of no less than 36.2 billion euros/year on the Italian GDP and employs 569,000 workers. The national and international events organised in Italy every year are 500,000 in total, with 30 million of participants. Many of these events have a high added value of contents and institutional, scientific and economic relations. The indirect impact of this sector is also crucial, playing a key role to support the internationalisation of Italian companies (fairs), territories and training (congresses).