Letter from VeronaFiere GD Mantovani

The general manager of VeronaFiere SpA Giovanni Mantovani writes to producers and exhibitors at Vinitaly and announces that a decision will be taken by Easter on whether to cancel the 2020 edition.

Will Vinitaly 2020 be held or not? While a large part of the Italian wine world is wondering and wondering if it is right to do so in mid-June (see Fivi's contrary position), VeronaFiere gives precise assurances. General Manager Giovanni Mantovani sent each individual producer and exhibitor a letter to explain the moment. "We are living, not only in Italy, but globally - writes Mantovani - a situation of danger and uncertainty that none of us would have ever imagined we would have to live. The calendars of trade fairs all over the world are undergoing drastic changes, with cancellations and date shifts: Vinitaly has also followed the same inevitable path, repositioning itself in June. The sudden changes in the scenario, the bombardment of information, even conflicting ones, that we receive every day, our nature as entrepreneurs, which in any case pushes us to plan and schedule, really run the risk of making us lose our bearings: you can't live from day to day, but neither can you change plans at every agency flash".

For Mantovani, however, we must not let ourselves be conditioned: "There is a term that helps everyone, and it is that of 3 April indicated by the latest Government Decree: in this period of time we are all asked to work to contain the spread of the virus - writes the director - For this set of reasons, in agreement with the main players in our sector and with the institutions in charge, we are holding the date of 14-17 June for Vinitaly and we are proceeding with the organizational activities, even extraordinary ones, that we are putting in place to ensure the maximum possible effectiveness of the event. Vinitaly, says Mantovani again, "is our most significant and most important event. It is not so much in economic terms, but because it promotes, represents and in some areas has been leading the Italian wine sector in the world for decades. It is not a cash leadership: it is a leadership of the market, of projects, of common intent with a lively and enterprising entrepreneurial spirit, the standard-bearer of Made in Italy, with which we have had the privilege to dialogue for 54 years".