IMM Cologne 2021 Canceled, Other European Trade Fairs Delayed Including Heimtextil, Proposte, Evteks, and Salon del Mobile

Salon del Mobile in Milan set for Sept. 5-10, 2021

December 2, 2020

IMM Cologne 2021 Canceled, Other European Trade Fairs Delayed Including Heimtextil, Proposte, Evteks, and Salon del Mobile

European Trade Shows 2021 Dates

Proposte: (Lake Como, Italy): April 19-21
Heimtextil (Frankfurt, Germany): May 4-7
Evteks (Istanbul, Turkey): May 18-22
Salon del Mobile (Milan, Italy): Sept. 5-10
IMM Cologne (Cologne, Germany): 2021 Canceled

COLOGNE, Germany – As a new wave of the coronavirus hit Europe in November, IMM Cologne organizers canceled the annual international furniture trade show, which was scheduled for Jan. 20-23, 2021, and Salon del Mobile organizers pushed from April to Sept. 5-10.

In the past, Salon and Proposte were held during similar dates because their proximity. 

Claudio Luti, Salon del Mobile president, says in a statement the furniture fair was delayed five months because of the latest wave of COVID-19. 

"We also beleive that moving the fair to September will leave enough time for the ongoing, acute phase of the pandemic to subside," Luti says.

Proposte organizers could not be reached for comment to see if they were also considering postponing.

Other notable trade fairs, such as Evteks in Turkey and Heimtextil in Germany, have been postponed because of the pandemic.

Heimtextil 2021, which is held in Frankfurt, about a two-hour car ride from Cologne, is being postponed from its  original date in January to May 4-7.

IMM Cologne organizers were set to continue with the fair until the latest pandemic wave swept across Europe.

“We’ve had to face the reality, even though it’s painful,” says Gerald Böse, CEO of Koelnmesse, in a Nov. 17 statement.

Oliver Frese, COO of Koelnmesse, adds: “Now we have to abandon that plan. …The developments of recent weeks – and in particular the latest feedback from our customers – have shown that today’s cancellation of the special edition, which we had planned with so much dedication and commitment, is the right decision because it’s appropriate to the situation.”

Preparations for IMM Cologne 2022 are underway. It will take place in physical form as usual, with the addition of a digital supplement. Over the coming weeks, the concept for 2022 will be released.

NEW LOCKDOWNS

Beginning Nov. 2, Germany underwent a new partial lockdown because of concerns about new coronavirus cases. The new “lockdown light” is expected to continue until late November.

“We are in a very serious situation,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a Oct. 28 press conference.

Merkel added the number of people in intensive care had doubled in 10 days and that in 75% of those new cases the source could not be tracked.

TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS

U.S. travelers are banned from entering the E.U., while the U.S. has a ban in place for E.U. travelers, the United Kingdom, and Ireland.

The travel bans were one reason Heimtextil 2021organizers postponed the largest trade fair for four months until May.

“Now that it is not only governments tightening travel restrictions, but also companies, the latest pandemic developments are causing growing uncertainty amongst trade fair customers,” Heimtextil organizers said in a Sept. 21 statement.

As of Nov. 5, the list of E.U. countries banned to Europe has not been updated. The 10 countries allowed to travel to the E.U. include: Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, New Zealand, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, and Uruguay.

“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,” Heimtextil organizers said in a statement.
 


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