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Coronavirus fears lead to cancellations, postponement of more events at home
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Established in 2012, the annual Hammersonic festival is considered one of the biggest metal and rock festivals in Southeast Asia. (Hammersonic/File)
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oronavirus fears have continued to take a toll on the event industry in Indonesia, as more music festivals and seminars are either postponed or canceled, especially after the country announced its first two COVID-19 cases earlier this week.
Among the latest events affected by the coronavirus outbreak is the Hammersonic music festival in Jakarta, which has been rescheduled to take place from Jan. 15 to 17 next year instead of March 27 and 28 as initially planned.
Ravel Entertainment, the organizer of the music festival, said it made the decision following talks with all relevant parties, including the artists who were supposed to perform, after considering “the situation of the outbreak, which can’t be predicted when it will end.”
“As the Hammersonic organizer, we support all decisions and regulations made by the authorities for keeping everyone safe,” the organizer said in its official statement.
Pop culture music festival Head in the Clouds Jakarta — initially scheduled to be held on March 7 — has also been postponed, with the rescheduled date or details of how to claim a refund to be updated later.
Coronavirus fears also led to the cancellations of some seminars and meetings, including a discussion event on women and entrepreneurship organized by Google Indonesia initially scheduled for Thursday in Jakarta to commemorate International Women's Day, which falls on March 8.
“The health and well-being of media partners, customers and our partners are our main priorities. Due to COVID-19 concerns, we have decided to cancel the event of SMBs [small and medium size businesses] for International Women's Day, which is supposed to take place on March 5," Google Indonesia said in a statement.
Read also: COVID-19: Jakarta suspends mass gathering, filming permits as part of containment measures
In a survey conducted by the Indonesia Event Industry Council (Ivendo) involving 51 respondents who are business players in the event industry -- including event organizers, planners and tour operators who handle various kinds of events, ranging from festivals to conventions -- 59 percent of respondents said coronavirus fears had affected their business.
Meanwhile, 41 percent of respondents said concerns over the virus had caused their clients to postpone or cancel their event at home, according to the survey.
Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) chairman Hariyadi Sukamdani acknowledged that the number of events held in Indonesia was declining due to concerns of the outbreak.
“There have been a lot of event cancellations, especially those that involve international participants and visitors. Several meetings [in Indonesia] have also been canceled as people are worried to attend events in other cities that require them to fly there,” Hariyadi told The Jakarta Post.
Read also: Not (trade) fair: Industry gatherings fall victim to coronavirus
“However, the cancellations are not at the worrying level so far as there are events that are still going ahead on schedule,” he said.
Hariyadi further expressed hopes that the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on events and other related industries could be solved within the next three months as he believed that as long as people could manage their sentiment, the appetite for events would get back to normal.
To date, Indonesia has two confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection, a mother and daughter. The pair are currently receiving treatment at the Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital (RSPI) in Jakarta.
