AEO chief executive Karim Halwagi said Boris’s plan to possibly replace Earls Court with luxury flats is "economic madness".
"It will potentially extinguish the events industry in Earls Court, and hundreds of businesses and thousands of jobs will go with it. Earls Court and Olympia support £1.25bn spending in the London region alone. In the international exhibition market, London is already falling way behind rival cities such as Vienna, Barcelona, Berlin and Paris. This decision will make matters worse."
The comments formed part of a report issued by the Greater London Authority on 7 December.
Capital and Counties (Capco), the company that owns the site, is planning .
. It claims the closure will have grave consequences for the UK events industry, and will jeopardise established Earls Court events.
The association is urging the Mayor to enter into discussions with the events industry so that he can fully understand the implications of his decision.
AEO chairman Stephen Brooks said: "The negative social and economic impacts of closure are enormous and hopelessly understated in the planning application."
The Ideal Home Show marketing director Rob Nathan, at Media 10, said he thinks the Mayor has not understood the gravity of the situation. "The closure of Earls Court is a huge risk to our business; why curtail an event that’s flourishing at the height of a recession? We had 270,000 visitors last year and are looking to expand, but no other suitable arena can handle this level of capacity."London Assembly Member and Labour Spokesperson for Planning and Housing, Nicky Gavron, said demolishing the venue will mean London will be even less able to compete with the rest of Europe. "[The Mayor] should be standing up for Earls Court Exhibition Centre, not washing his hands of it."
A spokesperson from City Hall was not available to comment at the time of going to press.
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