TAA 2020 Postponed Due to Coronavirus

The Tobacconists’ Association of America’s (TAA) 2020 Convention & Meeting will be postponed, the first major cigar event to be affected by COVID-19 coronavirus.

TAA 2020 was scheduled to take place March 22-26, 2020 in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

The organization has issued the following statement:

Due to the COVID-19 global outbreak, The TAA Board of Directors has postponed the 2020 annual meeting and conference scheduled to take place March 22 – 26 in Cabo San Lucas Mexico. The TAA is working with the host hotel, Sheraton Hacienda del Mar, to reschedule the event in late September or early October 2020.

The TAA anticipates having more information available regarding the postponement and changes in the coming weeks.

The TAA is a fairly small group of some of the country’s top tobacconists, about 80 retailers as well as 40 or so manufacturers. The association gathers annually to discuss issues facing the industry and retailers, networking and to sell a lot of cigars.

During the convention, the organization hosts two distinct selling events. One is known as the Dream Machine, an optional event where manufacturers offer the entire group of retailers tiered specials and discounts. The more the group collectively agrees to buy, the better the discounts and deals are for every retailer involved. In addition, the week includes a more traditional trade show which oftentimes sees some of the most aggressive discounts of the year.

For most of the vendors attending TAA, that week is usually amongst the top one or two weeks of selling throughout the year.

Yesterday, the State Department raised the worldwide travel advisory to Level 3: Reconsider Travel, the second-highest advisory level within the State Department’s system. The U.S. will ban travel from most of Europe to the U.S. for 30 days.