Hannover Messe is postponed to the end of May

Created: 2022-01-19Updated: 2022-01-19, 4:56 p.m

View from the empty Hall 9 to the Hanover exhibition center.

The Hannover Messe will be postponed due to the corona.

© Julian Stratenschulte/dpa

It will be a scaled-down edition of the global industry meeting: fewer exhibitors, less space, fewer days.

But for the first time since 2019, the Hannover Messe will take place again in presence.

Hanover - The Hanover Fair, the world's most important industrial show, will be postponed due to the corona.

In order to be able to organize the show in person, it should now take place from May 30th to June 2nd.

It was originally planned for the end of April and was supposed to last one day longer.

Exhibition boss Jochen Köckler explained on Wednesday that the changes had been discussed with the exhibitors since the beginning of December.

The desire for a physical trade fair and early planning security prevailed.

"The exhibitors say we need this direct contact, the randomness, the personal persuasion in order to win new customers."

In 2020, the fair was first postponed and then canceled due to the pandemic.

A year later it took place digitally.

On around 100,000 square meters in twelve halls, around 3,000 exhibitors want to present their industrial innovations with a focus on digitization, climate protection and efficient production, mainly on site.

In previous years, significantly more companies had presented themselves, usually around 5000 to 6000. The digital edition came to 1800 exhibitors.

The trade fair business is suffering immensely from Corona

The trade fair avoided a forecast for the number of visitors because of the unclear corona development.

Conferences and forums will also continue to be streamed.

Digital one-on-one calls are also possible on request.

In addition, leading representatives of the Federal Government should ensure political accents.

They could use the trade fair as a platform to show the exhibitors what technology will be used in the future, said Köckler.

Host country is Portugal.

The Corona crisis hit the trade fair business hard.

In 2021, Deutsche Messe AG posted a loss of around 30 million euros - after initially fearing a loss of 75 million euros.

With the cancellation of the Domotex flooring trade fair and the Agritechnica agricultural trade fair, there were already significant cancellations in Hanover this year.

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But there is great hope that business will pick up again as soon as the Omicron wave subsides.

There will be no black numbers in 2022 either, explained Köckler.

“It will certainly be another year with losses.

But if we are allowed to hold the trade fair as planned, our financing will be in place and we will be in a safe position.

That is the most important thing for the location.” In addition to the Hanover Fair, the Interschutz rescue service fair and the IAA Commercial Vehicles, for example, should also contribute to this.

Before the pandemic, the trade fair business in Hanover was usually weaker in even years than in odd years due to the exhibition cycle.

dpa