Tourism Breaking News
Following an intense week of consultation with key stakeholders in its Dubai event, scheduled for April 7, WiT has decided to move its Middle East edition to November 24, 2020. The uncertainty over the developing COVID-19 situation in the region has made it hard to plan for the one-day event.
“Our partners were telling us that with the situation so fluid and changing everyday, it would be challenging to put on the event in a month’s time,” said Yeoh Siew Hoon, Founder, WiT. “With the industry in damage control mode, and uncertainty over travel advisories and bans by countries and companies, everyone is currently too distracted and we felt we wouldn’t be able to focus on delivering a quality event. The good news is, we are staying in the same venue, Jumeirah Emirates Towers, and we thank our partners for accommodating this change in plans, and we promise we will return stronger. By then, things will be back in full swing and everyone will have great stories and lessons to share,” he added.
Ross Veitch, CEO and co-founder of Wego, one of the event’s two Foundation Sponsors, said, “Things are in a state of flux right now but knowing the Middle East market as we do, we know it will be resilient, and the fundamentals are there for a strong recovery.”
Stuart Crighton, CEO and founder of Cleartrip, Foundation Sponsor of WiT Middle East, echoed his disappointment, saying, “It’s a tough call – it would have been hard to get 100 per cent attention and attendance because of the evolving nature of the problem. We look forward to the return of a stronger WiT on November 24.”
