As preparations continue for Brand Licensing Europe – which is running from 17-19 November at London’s ExCeL – the new international travel rules confirmed earlier this month have been welcomed by the events industry.
International attendees to the show are now set to benefit from the new, clearer travel rules which were announced last week by the UK government and come into force from 4 October.
The following updates were outlined:
- Goodbye to the red, amber, green traffic light system. All countries will now be categorised as either ‘red list’ or ‘rest of world’. The vast majority of typical BLE attendees are not currently on the red list.
- Simplified rules for the ‘rest of world’ group including US and EU residents.
- Fully vaccinated travellers will be required to follow these three steps: 1. Book and pay for a day 2 COVID-19 test – to be taken after arrival in England 2. Complete your passenger locator form – any time in the 48 hours before you arrive in England 3. Take the COVID-19 test on or before day 2 after you arrive in England.
- Required test will be lateral flow test (as opposed to PCR test).
- Eight destinations removed from red list including Turkey and Pakistan.
- Recognition of fully vaccinated status from a further 17 countries and territories including Japan and Singapore.
BLE and Licensing International will be hosting a webinar on Wednesday 29 September at 3pm BST (UK time) to further discuss the changes. You can register by clicking on this link.
“We’ve had so many great virtual shows and meetings, but now it is time to meet in person again,” commented Peter Hollo from Licensing International Germany. “Make BLE your big licensing industry family reunion. And for those who are still anxious, I fully understand your thoughts, because we all had to face so many changes and learned to separate and to distance from other people.
“Now it’s time to reprogram to some great values this industry has. A strong community, human interaction and people, who are exactly like you. It’s about time to leave your work from home spaces and meet these people you missed.”
Roberta Nebbia from Licensing International Italy, continued: “After the Covid break, BLE represents a sort of ‘new start’ for our industry. I’ll be attending the show and I know many Italian professionals are planning to attend. I’m looking forward to seeing them all.”
Laurent Taieb from Licensing International France is also looking forward to meeting up with French members and international colleagues.
He commented: “Our licensing industry will be well represented this year with 22 French companies exhibiting and with the travel restrictions easing between the UK and France but also Europe, events are starting again. This is the ideal time to meet all different partners at BLE.”
Brand Licensing Europe 2021 will run from 17-19 November at London’s ExCeL. For further details and to register, simply click on this link.
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