Major 2022 trade fairs cancelled

Issue 82 January 2022

Two major trade fairs for the window coverings industry have been cancelled as the coronavirus pandemic restrictions and tightened borders made the shows untenable.

Messe Stuttgart said in a release that it was postponing R+T Stuttgart until 2024, however with the show only running in a digital format in 2021 (its original date) the show has effectively been cancelled. 

“R+T is the most international event in Stuttgart. Three quarters of the exhibitors at the last edition of the world’s leading trade fair in 2018 came from abroad and the proportion of international visitors was 60 per cent,” said Roland Bleinroth, President of Messe Stuttgart. Sebastian Schmid, Department Director Technology at Messe Stuttgart. 

“A risk evaluation in close cooperation with our exhibitors and partners revealed that a broad participation by international guests at R+T in February 2022 is no longer realistic on account of the travel restrictions that are now being increased again due to the pandemic.” 

“We have held intensive and transparent discussions with our customers every day regarding the staging of R+T. Right up to the end, we fought together with the exhibitors to stage R+T.” 

“We believe that it is our responsibility to give all participants planning security and postpone R+T until 2024.” 

The organisers said they will produce a digital video format for the trend topics and innovations in the industry but will not stage a purely digital trade fair such as R+T digital.

Another major German show Heimtextil is also cancelled with Messe Frankfurt working with the industry to determine whether and in what form a new offering in the summer of 2022 can be organised.

“Due to the unforeseeable dynamics in the development of the pandemic, the reciprocal and cumulative effects of the relevant factors, as well as the extreme escalation and deterioration of the pandemic situation in Germany within a very short period of time, including the decisions taken at the Conference of Minister Presidents on 2 December 2021, the date of Heimtextil right at the beginning of the year, in the second week of January, cannot be kept,” organisers said in a release.  

Heimtextil as an international trade fair has always kicked off the spring trade fair season and is the first major international trade fair in Germany directly after Christmas and New Year with exhibitors and visitors from over 135 countries. 

“A large number of the exhibiting and visiting companies at Heimtextil are currently reacting to this with travel and trade fair attendance bans out of an obligation of concern towards their employees to protect them from health risks. The global willingness to travel is continuing to fall rapidly,” the organisers added.

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