The corona pandemic is also having a hard time affecting trade fair operators.
Messe München is also far from normal.
Now all hopes are on the IAA in September.
Munich - Messe München, which is spoiled for success, is feeling the full force of the corona pandemic.
Compared to the expectations before the corona pandemic, one again expects a slump in sales of 200 million euros for the current year, CEO Klaus Dittrich said on Tuesday.
"We assume that we will need at least three to five years to get back to the level we had before Corona."
Last year, the company had still generated 94 million in sales, almost a third of the originally targeted value.
In view of this development, the company wants to reduce costs significantly.
According to the plans, the exhibition company wants to cut around a quarter of the almost 790 jobs.
Material costs are to be cut by a third.
Messe München does not rule out redundancies for operational reasons
Compulsory redundancies are not excluded, but this should be avoided if possible.
"It will be the very last resort," said Dittrich.
The savings program should not only affect ordinary employees: "Management should be cut in half."
The loss of sales for the hotel, catering and service providers working for trade fair and trade fair guests are estimated to be almost ten times the losses suffered by the trade fair company itself - "up to 1.9 billion euros in all of Bavaria," said Dittrich.
Messe München: IAA bearers of hope
This year, too, despite the hoped-for upturn, the trade fair industry is far from normal.
It is unclear whether and in what form the events planned for the first half of the year can take place.
"The pressure from customers to either cancel or postpone these trade fairs is increasing every day," said Dittrich.
"All hope will rest at the IAA in September." The International Motor Show is to take place in Munich for the first time.
The fair's shareholders include the Free State of Bavaria and the state capital.
In normal times, several internationally important leading trade fairs take place in Munich.
These include the Ispo sporting goods fair, Bau and Expo Real for everything to do with real estate and the construction industry, and Inhorgenta for jewelers.
(
dpa / utz
)
