INA condemns BPM festival shooting
On behalf of the International Nightlife Association we strongly condemn the BPM Festival shooting occurred at Blue Parrot club in Cancun (Mexico). At the same time, we express our heartfelt condolences to the mexican people, the families and friends of the victims in this tragic moment as they seek to recover from this deeply disturbing tragedy. We also give all our support to our Association member in Mexico (ANIDICE) and all its members and we encourage them to keep on fighting against any form of violence in nightlife since nightlife industry rejects violence. President of ANIDICE, Mr Ismael Rivera Cruces is vicepresident of the International Nightlife Association for Latin America.
Once more, after the attacks on Bataclan in Paris, Club Pulse in Orlando and Club Reina in Istanbul the nightlife sector has been hit again with violence involving firearms, so we are shocked and deeply saddened. We stand here in moral indignation and are, at the same time, filled with a huge sense of powerlessness but we will not stop working on improving safety measures in order to make nightclubs safer as we have been doing these last four years. Mr. Joaquim Boadas de Quintana, General Secretary of the International Nightlife Association said this morning: "Nightlife industry has been recently too much linked to violence which is unfair since we reject any form of violence in our establishments. So, we want to launch again an international appeal to all governments worldwide asking for help in order to collaborate with our sector to implement more security measures in nightlife clubs in as many countries as possible. Violence involving firearms can happen anywhere and it's a global threat that requires a strong and coordinated action from the international community so, it is in this regard that prevention becomes relevant but, of course, we can't do it alone".
Our association, as an Affiliate member of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), is working with its support on a prevention plan in order to make nightlife venues safer in order to protect partygoers since without safety there's no future for tourism. Events like these seriously damage the image and the prestige of the territory where they happen, which is unfair but real. So, the International Nightlife Association has contacted all governments members of the United Nations World Tourism Organization asking them for their cooperation in order to improve safety measures in nightlife venues in the benefit of tourism and citizens all over the world.
