For a long time, it was planned that the Book Fair could take place again this autumn with a strict hygiene concept on site at the Frankfurt exhibition grounds. But the current course of the Corona pandemic has not only led to the cancellation of the Book Fair's indoor exhibition. The subsequent fairs will also have to be completely rescheduled. The fact is: Messe Frankfurt will not be staging any physical trade fairs of its own at the Frankfurt venue up to and including March 2021. The company is rearranging the trade fair calendar in the spring, focusing on new synergies and digital additions.
There are indeed already trade fairs taking place again internationally. In China, for example, 13 major trade fairs have already taken place at various locations since the start of the crisis. But such projects are currently not feasible in Germany. With regard to Covid-19, exhibition halls are among the safest covered buildings in which people can be present without being exposed to an increased risk of infection. This is because fresh air can be supplied at high frequency and, in conjunction with the wide range of individual measures in the hygiene concept, it would be possible to hold business meetings on the Frankfurt exhibition grounds. However, against the background of the renewed tightening of official and, above all, company-internal travel restrictions, the current pandemic is unfortunately leading to increasing uncertainty on the part of trade fair customers.
Wolfgang Marzin, Chairman of the Board of Management of Messe Frankfurt, says: "What is important for our customers is our early decision, because now the investments for the trade fair participations would have to be triggered. Messe Frankfurt will remain consistent in working closely with customers to put the interests of the exhibiting industries at the heart of its decisions."
Therefore, Messe Frankfurt is responding to the tightened travel restrictions by rescheduling the 2021 spring trade fair in Frankfurt:
Heimtextil to 4. to 7 May 2021
Home Textile 2021 will be moved from January to 4 to 7 May 2021 and will then be held in Frankfurt parallel to Techtextil and Texprocess 2021. "There is a desire from large sections of the international home and contract textiles sector to hold Heimtextil 2021. Many companies are hoping that their presence at the fair will give a boost to their business after the relaunch. We feel more committed than ever to this need", explains Detlef Braun, Member of the Board of Management of Messe Frankfurt. "However, the current travel restrictions and the renewed rise in infection figures are currently a major hurdle for our very internationally oriented event. We are in intensive exchange with our exhibitors as well as with the responsible authorities and are doing our utmost to ensure that Heimtextil 2021 will be a safe and promising event."
For Heimtextil, the new date offers the opportunity, together with the two textile trade fairs, to present the entire textile value chain at the Frankfurt Exhibition Centre at the same time.
"International Consumer Goods Show - Special Edition"
For the first time, from 17 to 20. April 2021, the Ambiente, Christmasworld and Paperworld trade fairs will be held as a joint event under the name "International Consumer Goods Show - Special Edition" in Frankfurt am Main. The presence event will be supplemented by targeted digital offerings at the Consumer Goods Digital Days. This will also include the purely digital offerings of Creativeworld, which will be suspended as a physical meeting place for one time in 2021. Due to the amalgamation, the new date and the hybrid nature of the event, there will be new business-boosting synergy effects for the entire industry under the currently prevailing pandemic conditions.
New scope: Use of Nextrade digital marketplace expands
As the first digital B2B marketplace for Home & Living, the Nextrade platform brings together supply and demand from the entire industry - creating great added value for both sides. Since 2019, customers of Ambiente, Tendence and Nordstil have been using the portal with services related to order and data management. In 2021, the portal will also be available for the first time to customers of Heimtextil, Christmasworld, Creativeworld to extend physical trade fair participation and enable year-round orders: www.nextrade.market
ISH from 22. to 26 March 2021 exclusively digital
The ISH will take place in 2021 as a purely digital event and will provide a wide range of offerings. These include, for example, exhibitor presentations (products, information, videos, contact persons, chat functions and 1-to-1 video calls), intelligent matchmaking with suitable business partners for lead generation supported by artificial intelligence, live streaming and on-demand broadcasts of the supporting programme, and appointment scheduling for online meetings with exhibitors. And all of this is available 24/7 across time zones worldwide during the event.
Learn more about the 2021 shows as soon as we have new information!
