Sapica goes ahead as planned
01/05/2009
The H1N1 flu virus had no immediate effect on the Sapica leather and footwear fair in León, Mexico, the organisers have said.
The event ran from April 23–26 as planned, even though the health authorities in Mexico had begun to warn against people gathering in large groups.
The president of the organising committee, Javier Plascencia, said on the final day that htere had been no confirmed cases in the host state of Guanajuato and that, therefore, he and his colleagues had seen no reason to amen the event programme.
He told local media: “I have no doubt that we will register fewer visitors from the parts of the country that have been affected so far, such as Mexico City. There are areas in which people have suddenly been told they can't go anywhere; not to school, not to the cinema. Clearly, this will affect everyone, including trade fairs.”
Looking ahead to the likely spread of the virus to Guanajuato, the newly elected president of CICEG, the local footwear industry federation, Armando Martín Dueñas, called on employers to give workers as much clear information on the illness as they can, and to offer as much help as possible to any workers showing H1N1 symptoms.
The industry mood at the start of this edition of Salpica was positive. A survey that CICEG carried out that the beginning of the event showed that 50% of the footwear buyers in attendance said they intended to buy more Mexican-made shoes for the autumn-winter season than they did this time last year. A further 19% said they intended to buy at least the same quantity as last year.
Mr Plascencia said this was a sign that footwear buyers regarded the Mexican shoe production sector as “robust, with good designs, and decent costs”.
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