Germany’s Messe Frankfurt has announced it will not be holding any of its own physical tradefairs at the Frankfurt exhibition grounds between January and March 2021. The company said it would be revamping its spring tradefair calendar to focus on new synergies and new digital offerings.
The announcement is a blow to the German tradefair industry, especially following the lead it had shown in staging some carefully managed in-person exhibitions, including the successful Caravan Salon in Dusseldorf which attracted over 107,000 visitors earlier this month.
Messe Frankfurt itself has already organised 13 large tradefairs at various locations in China since the crisis began. Its management said, however, “Unfortunately, it is not possible to hold such events in Germany at present. This is in spite of the fact that exhibition halls are amongst the safest enclosed buildings in which people can spend time without being subjected to an increased risk of infection. The halls can be continuously resupplied with fresh air, and in conjunction with the measures included in our extensive hygiene concept, people could safely do business in person here on the Frankfurt exhibition grounds.
“However, now that it is not only governments tightening travel restrictions, but also companies, the latest pandemic developments are causing growing uncertainty amongst tradefair customers.”
Wolfgang Marzin, president and CEO of Messe Frankfurt, said: “It is important for our customers that we make a decision at an early date, as it would otherwise be time for them to begin investing in their tradefair presentations. Messe Frankfurt will continue working closely with its customers to ensure that its decisions serve the interests of the exhibiting industries.”
The announced changes to the Messe Frankfurt spring 2021 tradefair calendar are:
Heimtextil moved to 4-7 May 2021 from its January 2021 date.
“Much of the international home and contract textiles industry has made it clear that they want Heimtextil 2021 to take place. Many companies are looking to their tradefair presentations to help boost sales following the resumption of business, and we feel that it is more important now than ever that we satisfy this demand,” said Detlef Braun, member of the Executive Board of Messe Frankfurt. “However, the travel restrictions that have now been put in place and a renewed rise in the number of infections simply pose too great a hurdle for our very international event. We are working closely with our exhibitors and the relevant authorities and doing everything we can to ensure that we are able to hold a safe and successful Heimtextil 2021.”
International Consumer Goods Show – Special Edition will take place 17-20 April 2021. It will embrace the Ambiente, Christmasworld and Paperworld shows, which will be making a once-only appearance as a joint event in Frankfurt am Main: the International Consumer Goods Show – Special Edition. The physical event will be actively supplemented with digital offerings as part of Consumer Goods Digital Days, which will also be home to the purely digital Creativeworld, an event that is taking a one-year hiatus as a physical meeting place in 2021.
As the first digital B2B marketplace for the Home & Living sector, the Nextrade platform matches supply and demand for the entire industry – creating tremendous added value for both. Ambiente, Tendence and Nordstil have been using the portal and its ordering and data management services since 2019. In 2021, this portal will for the first time also be available to customers of Heimtextil, Christmasworld and Creativeworld to extend their physical tradefair participation and allow orders to be placed all year round. www.nextrade.market
Sanitation, heating and air tradeshow ISH will run 22-26 March 2021 as an entirely digital event.
