The pandemic hit the trade fair industry hard. Hundreds of trade fairs have been canceled in Germany alone. So that things run better again in 2022, the industry association has now submitted demands.
After numerous trade fair cancellations due to Corona, the shaken German trade fair industry has asked politicians to ensure planning security with “trade fair feasibility rules”.
Requirements in the Corona ordinances are required as to the hygiene measures under which trade fairs can take place in 2022, said the managing director of the Exhibition and Trade Fair Committee of German Business (AUMA), Jörn Holtmeier, at a digital press conference on Wednesday.
Trade fairs are trading centers for the economy. “Trade fairs are not a carnival, they are not a football game.” The federal and state governments had already decided in May 2020 that trade fairs should not be considered major events. The measures recently discussed at the federal-state meeting would apply to major leisure-oriented events. “The legislators in the 16 countries are urgently called upon to make this unequivocally clear.”
According to AUMA, trade fairs are currently prohibited in three federal states – in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg. In the other federal states, 3G, 2G or 2G + access restrictions apply. According to its own information, the Association of the German Exhibition Industry represents all large and medium-sized exhibition companies.
Lamented loss of billions
Holtmeier described the current situation in the trade fair industry as “dramatic”. In 2020, 68 percent of the planned trade fairs were canceled, in 2021 it will be 71 percent. “The overall economic loss now adds up to a whopping 46.2 billion euros since the beginning of the pandemic,” said Holtmeier. Of this, 21.8 billion euros were accounted for in 2020, and another 24.4 billion euros in 2021.
According to AUMA, the sums include the failures of the trade fair organizers themselves as well as the failures of service providers such as stand construction, agencies, hotels, restaurants, taxis, transport or Deutsche Bahn. AUMA considers around 165,000 of the around 235,000 jobs in the trade fair industry to be at risk. “Our branch of industry is the hardest hit industry in this pandemic,” said Holtmeier.
On the occasion of the assumption of office of the new federal government, the AUMA called for specific individual measures: For example, the special trade fair fund should be supplemented by a security fund for exhibitors and trade fair service providers. Small and medium-sized companies exhibiting would need a domestic trade fair funding program. AUMA also called for a joint advertising campaign by the German diplomatic missions and the trade fair industry abroad for Germany as a trade fair location.
Recognize vaccines from abroad?
In order to enable and facilitate the trade fair visit of foreign trade visitors, Holtmeier demanded the recognition of foreign vaccinations. In Germany, anyone who has been vaccinated with recognized vaccines from the World Health Organization must be considered vaccinated. Currently, only people are considered vaccinated in Germany who have been fully vaccinated with one of the four vaccines recognized in Germany. He also spoke out in favor of the introduction of a general compulsory corona vaccination in Germany, “in order to be able to return to stability and predictability”.
According to AUMA, 380 trade fairs were planned as face-to-face events in Germany in 2021. Around 110 took place. Around 2.1 million visitors and around 35,000 exhibitors have been counted since the summer. “That is a decrease of around 50 percent compared to events before the pandemic,” it said. However, some trade shows were held in an online format. From November 2020 to summer 2021, the association had a total of 60 online trade fairs.
For the year as a whole, the association expects a decrease in sales of up to 75 percent compared to the pre-Corona year 2019. At that time, the sales of the German exhibition companies totaled 4.1 billion euros. 390 trade fairs are planned in Germany in 2022.
Source From: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
