IMM Cologne Continues Jan. 20-23, 2021, While Other Trade Fairs Fold, Including Heimtextil, Proposte, and Evteks
November 5, 2020
COLOGNE, Germany – IMM Cologne organizers will hold the annual international furniture trade show on Jan. 20-23, 2021.
Other notable fairs, such as Proposte in Italy, 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 of Jan. 12-15 to May 4-7.
Still, IMM Cologne organizers say they considered the “corona pandemic in the European and German environment.”
“Our goal is clearly defined: to also make IMM Cologne possible this coming January against the background of the challenging basic conditions,” Oliver Frese, COO of Koelnmesse, the IMM Cologne organizers, says in a statement.
Beginning Nov. 2, Germany will undergo 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.
So far, IMM Cologne organizers will continue with the fair.
NEW ONLINE FORMATS
With the new IMM@Home online platform, organizers say they will reach those visitors who cannot travel to Cologne because of travel restrictions. The new online platform will allow exhibitors to interact with potential customers in real-time from around the world, organizers say.
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.
So far, that has not been the case for IMM Cologne organizers, who did not return an email requesting more details.
Other notable fairs, such as Proposte in Italy, 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 of Jan. 12-15 to May 4-7.
Still, IMM Cologne organizers say they considered the “corona pandemic in the European and German environment.”
“Our goal is clearly defined: to also make IMM Cologne possible this coming January against the background of the challenging basic conditions,” Oliver Frese, COO of Koelnmesse, the IMM Cologne organizers, says in a statement.
Beginning Nov. 2, Germany will undergo 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.
So far, IMM Cologne organizers will continue with the fair.
NEW ONLINE FORMATS
With the new IMM@Home online platform, organizers say they will reach those visitors who cannot travel to Cologne because of travel restrictions. The new online platform will allow exhibitors to interact with potential customers in real-time from around the world, organizers say.
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.
So far, that has not been the case for IMM Cologne organizers, who did not return an email requesting more details.
