By granting permission for church services and opening children’s playgrounds, the Civil Protection Headquarters has shown that it is inconsistent in its decision-making and is unable to gauge the pace of easing measures, as evidenced by the fact that the event industry still cannot plan its business activities.
This is the view of the Events Committee of the association Voice of Entrepreneurs, whose president Berislav Marszalek emphasizes how important the event industry is as part of the tourism offer, considering that 'it will not only be hotels that attract tourists to Croatia, but also accompanying content.' Marszalek sees no reason why people are allowed to gather for church services, while the organization of larger events, such as weddings, concerts, performances, and other activities covered by the event industry is not permitted. Furthermore, due to such inconsistency, other entrepreneurs related to event organization, such as stage setup companies, catering, etc., are also suffering.
—
—
– This concerns a whole series of events where between 500 and a thousand people gather, and we believe that the government should establish a timeline for easing measures, that is, decide when certain events with a specific number of people could begin to be organized. Dates do not need to be specified, but we should have a rough idea of when we could start working, which is very important for timely preparations. We believe it is essential that smaller events of up to a hundred people start operating as soon as possible, as they are not riskier than larger stores, religious gatherings, etc. – says Marszalek.
He also considers it very important that the government urgently announces a date before which larger events (over a thousand people) will definitely not be allowed, so that organizers have a legal basis for postponing or canceling events and minimizing costs.
This is just one of four measures that the Events Committee has proposed to the ministries of economy, tourism, and culture and is vital, says Marszalek, for the event industry. However, the other three measures are no less important, he emphasizes; in one, they seek an extension of HZZ measures for an additional 3+3 months, or a total of 3+3+3+3, as companies in the event industry will be unable to operate for the longest time. Companies that continue to experience a decline in revenue of over 70 percent in the reference quarterly period compared to the same quarterly period last year, or those that are truly extremely affected, can qualify for the extended measures.
In addition, they request that the amendments already made (Article 38a of the Tourism Services Act), which relate to the possibility of issuing vouchers or postponing refunds for package arrangements, also include tickets for events (concerts, festivals, conferences), considering that event organizers are threatened in the same way and it essentially concerns the same problem of illiquidity. The Events Committee proposed that the issued voucher can be used within 365 days from the date of the postponed event for the same or another event of that organizer, and if this does not suit the buyer, they can receive a refund within 30 days after the expiration of 365 days from the date of the postponed event.
Finally, they seek relaxation of the conditions for HAMAG-BICRO COVID-19 loans for smaller companies by extending the loan utilization period from six to twelve months so that smaller companies can survive longer with the obtained loan. As Marszalek explains, due to the business standstill, these loans will often not be able to be spent within six months, forcing companies to create fixed costs to meet the conditions, and therefore they request that the utilization period for this money be extended to one year. Additionally, it is extremely important to increase the fund of HBOR’s COVID-19 loans and relax the conditions to include all affected activities so that companies that rely on events can also apply.
Marszalek states that it is very important for those making decisions about easing measures to ensure that some are not discriminated against at the expense of others.
{embed_digitalno_izdanje}{/embed_digitalno_izdanje}
