Coronavirus scare: Italian guests’ Indian visas suspended, event cancelled

AHEMDABAD: A talk on infrastructure and design in Ahmedabad was cancelled at the last minute as speakers from Italy could not travel due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The event, organized by India To Italy (ITOI), along with Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in collaboration with Cept, Ahmedabad Management Association, and GIHED was to be held on March 12.
It was only on Tuesday that the Union government suspended the visas of travellers from Italy, South Korea, Iran, and Japan with immediate effect in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak in these countries. “The speakers could not travel to the event and therefore we had no choice but to call it off,” said Jaydeep Desai, a co-founder of ITOI. “It is unfortunate that the effort of so many institutions was in vain.”
The outbreak has wrecked travel plans of many and key international events have also been cancelled. The Milan Furniture Fair — attended by architects, businesspersons, designers, and developers in Gujarat — was to be held by the end of April. The event has been postponed to June.
“While hotel bookings were non-refundable, flight ticket cancellations will come at a huge penalty,” said Parag Pandya, an executive who works with a dealership of Italian furniture brands in Ahmedabad.