The “dark times” for trade fairs organization is reopening. After the cancellations of W Exhibition and Domotex and the transition to the “online version” of Ciff Shanghai, today two new events have raised the white flag. Zow, the “creative laboratory” for the furniture industry, and Eisenwarenmesse, the international fair for hardware, have announced the move of the event. The reasons are, unfortunately, those that we all know well: the evolution of infections due to the “Covid-19” pandemic has prompted Koelnmesse to opt for the path of prudence, postponing both events.
If Zow moves to May, from 3 to 5, we will have to wait longer for the next edition of Eisenwarenmesse: the 2022 edition has been rescheduled from 25 to 28 September.
According to Matthias Pollmann, Vice President of Trade Fair Management at Koelnmesse, “There is increasing uncertainty among companies about whether taking part in a trade fair would currently be the right and responsible thing to do. We are communicating closely and in a spirit of trust with our exhibitors, industry representatives and visitors. What has become clear from our many conversations is that most are not prepared to attend Zow in February 2022 as visitors or exhibitors, and that they have serious doubts over whether Zow can successfully go ahead in a few weeks with the situation as it is,” continues Pollmann. “In close consultation with Messe Ostwestfalen GmbH, we have now reached the conclusion together that we cannot do justice to Zow’s importance as an established industry event on the scheduled dates. We are therefore postponing Zow until May 2022”.
“With the Anuga Food Fair and International Dental Show (IDS) in the fall, we proved that trade fairs with Koelnmesse’s hygiene and safety concept are once again possible at an international level and can be carried out safely for everyone. Furthermore, our customers were very pleased with the business activities at these events”, pointed out Oliver Frese, coo at Koelnmesse. “However, certain industry-specific conditions must be in place in order to fully leverage the power of personal exchange at an international trade show. In the case of Eisenwarenmesse, this power will be significantly greater in September thanks to the participation of the Asian market”.
