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September 11 was not a tragedy restricted to the United States. The cultural melting pot of people who lost their lives in the World Trade Center represented nationalities from around the world. Likewise, the tragedy affected not only public assembly facilities throughout the United States, but had varying degrees of impact at venues elsewhere. We went to those facilities to find out just what September 11 meant to them in terms of event cancellations and any slowing of business, as well as any different security measures they may have put in place. Some even offered their emotional reactions to what happened in New York and Washington.

We did not have any event cancellations but did show a definite slowing down of business. When the USA sneezes, the world catches a cold! As we have been used to political unrest—going back a few years now, we have always had extensive security arrangements in place. However, as our venue will be hosting the Johannesburg World Summit (also known as the Earth Summit), we are stepping up security arrangements considerably. I also believe there will be a long-term effect, which may favor far away destinations such as South Africa and Australia. With added safety and security measures, though, I believe we should defy these terrorist attacks and continue with business undeterred.
—Deon Viljoen, Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa

The Queensland Police undertook a risk assessment of events at our venue in light of September 11 and decided that the risk was low. However, we increased our security by briefing staff to be extra thorough in their bag checks as patrons enter the stadium; notifying the police immediately if a vehicle is left unattended outside the stadium; ensuring that all parcels are treated as potential risks, and parcels not expected by the addressee, or not addressed to a particular person, are treated with extreme caution, and; introducing mail handling security measures as recommended by the Australian Government Attorney General’s department, to combat anthrax-type attacks. We already have bomb threat procedures in place.
—Robert Carr, Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane, Australia

We didn’t have any cancellations, but we held two international events at the Palau Sant Jordi that suffered some difficulties as a result of the attacks to New York and Washington. From October 14-20, we held a UMTS exhibition with participants coming mainly from the United Kingdom and the United States. The organizers noticed a decrease in the number of booths and attendees, but it was not enough to cancel the event. On November 9, our venue held the closing ceremony of the World Congress of Junior Chamber International. The number of registrations days before the attacks pointed out that the final number was going to be around 4,500-5,000, but just after the attacks there was a substantial decrease and the final number was 3,500.
—Jordi Vallverdu, Palacio de Los Deportes Ocesa, Barcelona, Spain

We have seen very little change in our business since September 11. We’ve had no cancellations and only two postponements. As for any changes, we do see our clients using added security for all events. This is not a bad sign as it improves the visitors’ comfort level. As for long-term changes, I feel that we will see additional well-planned security for all future events.
—John Sellers, IMPACT Exhibition Center, Bangkok, Thailand

Fortunately we did not have any cancellations or slowing of business. Our police detail has increased and ALL bags brought into the facility are inspected. As the war against terrorism escalates I expect that whatever takes place in the United States will also affect Canada.
—Tom Conroy, Corel Centre, Kanata, Ontario

We had two cancellations immediately after the tragedy. We know the cancellation of the Sugar Ray concert was a direct reaction from the incident. But other than the two cancellations, there doesn’t appear to be much slowing of business. In fact, some very successful concerts such as Robbie Williams, Elton John and the Corrs Concert, took place in the following months. However, it may be too early to tell whether our business will slow down next year due to artists from the U.S. and Europe not willing to tour.

Our security personnel are more vigilant in checking patrons’ belongings. Staff is constantly briefed to watch out for suspicious people or unattended bags. Generally, I don’t expect any significant long-term effect on the Singapore public assembly facility industry unless there are further attacks or unrest, especially in countries in closer proximity to Singapore.
—Jennifer Pok, Singapore Indoor Stadium, Singapore, Singapore

We have not changed the security measures we have previously had in place. We did have a meeting with our security provider to determine if any changes or improvements would be an over-reaction. The one thing that was mentioned was the use of our cloakroom. We operate a cloak for all events and take in bags, boxes and luggage without checking the contents of any of the items. We are now discussing whether we should do an inspection of goods left at the cloak and display signage advising that all goods left for cloaking are subject to search/inspection.
—Lee Kessler, Sydney Entertainment Centre, Sydney, Australia

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