After careful consideration, IAADFS and ASUTIL have made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 Duty Free & Travel Retail Summit of the Americas, scheduled for March 30 – April 2 in Orlando, Florida.
The organizations have been monitoring developments regarding the coronavirus (COVID-19) and have been following the information about this outbreak from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), among others. The associations have also been in contact with a number of exhibitors, attendees, and other stakeholders.
The duty free and travel retail industry is a vibrant and close-knit community that is dependent on international travel, and the associations’ priority is to always act in the best interests of all of their partners. The ongoing spread of COVID-19 has resulted in mounting concern over health safety, along with increased travel advisories and government health warnings – including the State of Florida’s March 1 declaration of a public health emergency. It has become clear that the most responsible path forward is to cancel the 2020 Summit of the Americas.
IAADFS and ASUTIL regret that they have had to come to this decision, and they appreciate the understanding and the ongoing support that their members, exhibitors, and attendees have shown for the 2020 Summit of the Americas. They will be issuing full refunds of all exhibit space rental fees and registration fees and expect to have this refund process completed by Friday, March 13 for refunds of payments that were received by credit card, with refunds via check or electronic transfer to take up to an additional two weeks. They encourage anyone who has booked room reservations for the 2020 Summit of the Americas to submit their cancellation of these reservations as soon as possible to minimize any cancellation penalties that may apply.
The announcement was signed by Rene Riedi, IAADFS Chairman of the Board; Michael Payne, IAADFS President & CEO; Gustavo Fagundes, ASUTIL President and José Luis Donagaray, ASUTIL Secretary General