Last year, with the comfort and safety of all involved as our number one priority, UITP and the Victorian Department of Transport (DoT) made the joint decision to move the date of the next UITP Global Public Transport Summit in Melbourne to December of this year.
With the coronavirus pandemic ongoing, and restrictions in place on international travel, together with the Victorian Department of Transport, we have decided to cancel the Summit in Melbourne.
Conversations continue across the globe on what travel will look like this year, leading us to recognise that we could no longer host to the type of industry gathering the sector has come to know and love our Summit to be.
UITP has developed a strong relationship with DoT and we have agreed on this joint outcome as the best option for all involved. We would also like to thank the Melbourne Convention Bureau for its ongoing support.
We know that our connection with the city and DoT will remain strong in the times ahead, and we look forward to the possibility of organising the Summit in Melbourne in the future.
Melbourne would have been a wonderful location to host the UITP Global Public Transport Summit, a truly international event that welcomes participants and visitors from around the world. The ongoing implications of the coronavirus pandemic have made the 2021 edition in Melbourne beyond reach this year, but I know that our collaboration with our members and colleagues in Australia and New Zealand will go from strength-to-strength in the months and years ahead.
It has brought the sector together to discuss and debate the future of urban mobility and with each passing edition, our Summit has become the defining event in public transport.
The experience offered to delegates, exhibitors, sponsors, media and visitors is what has made its reputation second to the none within the sector.
As COVID-19 has placed restrictions on how many industries and events operate worldwide, these limitations would have reduced this level of engagement, leading us to cancel the 2021 edition.
The Victorian Department of Transport values its ongoing relationship with UITP and looks forward to creating future industry opportunities together that continues to support the transformation of public transport globally.
UITP will continue to connect and collaborate with our members around the world throughout the year as we all work towards a post-pandemic future for public transport.
We would like to thank you for your ongoing support, especially in light of these necessary changes to our events calendar.
Moving forward, we will continue to keep you updated right here in our newsroom and through our official twitter feed.
Thank you.