CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte’s conference scene is starting to see the impacts coronavirus is having on travel, business and the economy.
SNAXPO 2020, originally scheduled for March 22 – 24 at the Charlotte Convention Center, has been canceled. The expo, which claims it is the most comprehensive event devoted exclusively to the snack industry, cited significantly reduced anticipated attendance related to recent corporate travel restrictions.
According to its website, the 2019 event was attended by more than 400 people, and 172 international travelers.
Of the 13 scheduled events this year at the Charlotte Convention Center, SNAXPO has been the only to cancel.
The International Window Coverings Expo scheduled for March 25 – 27 says they’ll proceed as planned, but in a statement on the Expo’s website, it says they’ve “come to an agreement with our Chinese exhibitors to postpone their participation to 2021 due to the Coronavirus.”
A conference for General Shale, a brick manufacturing company, slated for next week in Charlotte has also been postponed. In a statement from the company’s marketing manager, Luke Guinn, he writes:
“General Shale made a decision to postpone a company conference that was scheduled to take place next week in Charlotte with approximately 50 of our associates. Due to the many unanswered questions surrounding international and domestic travel at the moment, we felt that that this decision was in the best interest of our employees and would present the least amount of interference with our day-to-day operations. We are currently evaluating available options for rescheduling our Charlotte conference for a later date.”
News of the cancellations come as companies try to navigate and adapt to a virus out of their control.
“It has significantly increased,” says Vanessa Vaughn Matthews, Founder and CEO of Asfalis Advisors, a Charlotte-based crisis management advisory firm, when asked how business has been.
Vaughn Matthews says her days now start at 4 a.m. as her clients, which include national companies look for answers as how to best adapt and prepare for the virus.
“What they are concerned about is an operational impact. What happens if my employees get it? What happens if my customers get it? Because an operational impact can instantly become a reputational impact,” says Vaughn Matthews.
Nationally, companies have begun to react; Google, Microsoft, Wells Fargo and others restricting travel. Those restrictions trickling down, affecting airlines and hospitality.
“The risk is getting through the airport and you know we live in Charlotte one of the top 10 busiest airports in the country,” says Vaughn Matthews, “Its ingress and egress. When you have too many people in one location at one time, from a risk, safety, security perspective that's what we look at.”