McDonald’s Cancels Global Franchisee Convention Amid Coronavirus Fears

According to CNBC, McDonald’s biennial franchisee convention which was set to take place in Orlando, Florida has been cancelled as a result of feedback, global travel restrictions and advice from various world health ministries including the World Health Organization. “I’ve made the difficult but I think right decision to cancel our in-person Worldwide Convention in Orlando in favor of a digital Worldwide Convention,” said recently-appointed CEO Chris Kempczinski in a memo to employees as reported by CNBC. The conference will still take place, but the approximately 15,000 attendees will now have to do so virtually. 

In addition to this message, McDonald’s urged franchisees to increase the frequency with which “high-touchpoint” surfaces are cleansed and sanitized. Restaurant Business Online reported that operators should encourage even more frequent hand-washing and consider providing alcohol-based hand sanitizers for customers. 

Restaurant Business Online also reported that the company’s efforts to combat the spread of coronavirus have been ongoing since January, when McDonald’s formed a global group that meets daily to assess the impact of the virus and perform crisis management. In the U.S. alone, McDonald’s has almost 14,000 restaurants. 

McDonald’s CFO Kevin Ozan told CNBC that the convention—which was set to take place in April—usually costs McDonald’s between $25 and $30 million. This cancellation comes following other cancellations of large gatherings across the U.S. including SXSW, a week-long, annual music festival and tech conference that takes place in Austin, Texas. Airlines across the U.S. have also been scrambling to suspend and cut the costs of flights. While the pandemic has been hitting small businesses in affected areas particularly hard, the long-term, global economic impact appears to have yet reached its peak.