March 2, 2020 — Organizers for the upcoming Seafood Expo North America in Boston are encouraging attendees to follow a “no-contact, no-handshake policy” because of coronavirus concerns.
The Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America trade event — at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in the Seaport, from March 15 to 17 — will also have significantly fewer visitors from Asia because of the highly contagious disease.
“Due to travel restrictions into the United States, we are expecting to see an impact from Mainland China, which annually represents 5% of the combined visitor and exhibitor attendee base and 9% of the exhibit space,” a spokeswoman for the expo said in a statement. “Despite the situation, we have more than 1,100 companies that are still planning on exhibiting this March.”
About 80% of the expo visitors come from the U.S., Canada and Mexico.