Trade shows are back this fall, with more in-person events being announced every day. However, they may look and feel a little different than the good old days of 2019, from socially distanced aisles to staffed buffets to heightened mandatory health and safety requirements to attend.
Yes, we’re talking about the controversial requirement to provide proof of vaccination to attend. While some, like InfoComm, which will be held in Orlando in October, are giving attendees the choice of providing proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test, others are requiring everyone who wants to come in person to provide proof that they are fully vaccinated against the virus. One example is IMEX America, which is requiring all attendees to provide proof that they have received a full dose of a WHO-approved COVID-19 vaccine. IMEX will be using the well-known and commonly used CLEAR Health Pass app for all North American attendees.
While some destinations, including San Francisco, are also starting to require proof of vaccination to enter indoor venues, others, like Nevada, are waiving indoor mask mandates for events that require proof of vaccination to enter. IMEX America organizers said they will make a final decision on mask requirements closer to the show, which is scheduled for Nov. 9-11 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
Related. California and a handful of cities lead the way in requiring proof of vaccination
Commenting on the decision, Carina Bauer, CEO of IMEX Group, said: “It is imperative for any organiser to create the safest possible environment for their event. For IMEX America, given our scale and international nature, we felt the most effective way to achieve this would be to mandate vaccination at entry. We have received an overwhelmingly positive response from the industry to this announcement and look forward to welcoming the industry back to IMEX America in November.”
The giant tech trade show CES, which is scheduled to be held in Las Vegas in January 2022, has also announced that it will require all in-person attendees to provide proof of vaccination, though it is also considering accepting proof of a positive antibody test as an alternative requirement.
“Based on current scientific knowledge, we understand that vaccines offer our best hope for stopping the spread of COVID-19,” CTA President and CEO Gary Shapiro said in making the announcement. “We all have a role to play in ending the pandemic by encouraging vaccination and implementing appropriate safety protocols. We are taking responsibility by requiring proof of vaccination to attend CES 2022 in Las Vegas.”
Related. CES and NAB to require proof of vaccination
Proof-of-vaccination requirements will undoubtedly increase at upcoming trade shows, but how will the public react to these new requirements? New data shows that the idea may be more palatable than previously thought, at least among some groups. According to Gallup data, more than half of Americans support requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination to attend an event with a large audience. Fifty-eight percent said they support requiring vaccinations for large events, up from 55% in April. But not everyone is on board with this type of health and safety requirement.
For example, people who are already fully vaccinated have the highest approval rate for vaccine mandates at large events, at 76%, while only 22% of unvaccinated people said the same. Not surprisingly, in today’s highly politicized environment, political affiliation also matters when it comes to vaccine mandates. Among Republicans, the idea is approved by only 25%, while 48% of independent voters and 90% of Democrats support it.
When you combine political affiliation with vaccination status, the divisions are even more apparent. 94% of vaccinated Democrats support requiring vaccinations for large events, compared to 63% of unvaccinated Democrats. 42% of vaccinated Republicans support requiring vaccinations for large events, while only 9% of unvaccinated Republicans do so.
Related. Networking and exhibitions will keep attendees coming back to shows
Most Americans surveyed in the Gallup study also approved of requiring proof of vaccination for other event-related activities, such as air travel, hotel stays and restaurant dining. However, these numbers also vary by vaccination status and political beliefs. In August, when Gallup collected the data, 61% of Americans supported requiring proof of vaccination for air travel, and 53% for hotel stays and restaurant dining. These are slight increases from April, when the percentages were 57% for air travel, 44% for hotel stays and 40% for restaurant dining. All of these numbers drop, some dramatically, when the results are limited to unvaccinated people and those who lean conservative.
In all of these cases, analyses by vaccinated and unvaccinated and by political affiliation showed that vaccinated people and Democrats were much more likely to support requiring vaccination to participate, while unvaccinated people and Republicans were much less likely to support requiring vaccination to participate. For example, 96% of vaccinated Democrats all support requiring proof of vaccination to fly, compared to 12% of unvaccinated Republicans.
Contact Carina Bauer at Carina.Bauer@imexexhibitions.com +44 1273 227311; Gary Shapiro at (703) 907-7600 or gshapiro@cta.tech