Düsseldorf, March 13, 2020. Messe Düsseldorf is postponing the leading international trade fairs interpack and drupa. interpack will now take place from 25 February to 3 March 2021, and drupa will be postponed to 20 to 30 April 2021.
In doing so, Messe Düsseldorf is following the recommendation of the crisis management team of the German Federal Government to take into account the principles of the Robert Koch Institute when assessing the risk of major events. Based on this recommendation and the recent significant increase in the number of people infected with the new corona virus (SARS-CoV-2), including in Europe, Messe Düsseldorf has reassessed the situation. In addition, there is the general ruling issued by the city of Düsseldorf on 11 March 2020, in which major events with more than 1,000 participants present at the same time are generally prohibited.
"The decision was taken in close consultation with our advisory boards and sponsoring associations," emphasises Werner M. Dornscheidt, Chairman of the Board of Management of Messe Düsseldorf GmbH. It also reflects the wishes of individual industries: "As their partner, we are currently doing everything in our power to reduce the economic losses suffered by our exhibitors".
"The city of Düsseldorf is following the instructions of the state government. Our aim is to slow down the spread of the corona virus so that the health system can continue to function properly," emphasises Thomas Geisel, Lord Mayor of the state capital of Düsseldorf and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Düsseldorf trade fair company.
Delaying the spread of the virus as far as possible is also a declared goal according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). In order to fulfil Messe Düsseldorf's responsibility for risk prevention, the company primarily had to minimise the increased risk of infection at major events. Measures to reduce the risk of transmission at major events, which the Robert Koch Institute has clearly defined - such as ventilation of the venue appropriate to the risk of infection, the exclusion of persons from risk groups and the comprehensive installation of entrance screening, were practically impossible to implement. Also, comparable measures were and are unreasonable in view of the unforeseeable rapid development and the size of the various events with up to 60,000 participants.
On 29 February and 11 March Messe Düsseldorf also postponed the events Beauty, Top Hair, Energy Storage Europe, ProWein, wire, Tube and SportsInnovation. Some new dates have already been set: Beauty 18-20 September 2020, Top Hair 19-20 September 2020, wire and Tube 07-11 December 2020, ProWein 21-23 March 2021. Messe Düsseldorf will announce the remaining dates for Energy Storage Europe and SportsInnovation in due course.
"We would like to thank all partners for their excellent cooperation in making these difficult and time sensitive decisions. We are pleased that together dates were found so quickly in order to provide all those affected with reliability in planning. Of course, we are also in close contact with the hotel industry and all industries affected by the shifts in order to find feasible solutions", says Dornscheidt.
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