“The pandemic situation is still tense”, according to Koelnmesse President and Chief Executive Officer Gerald Böse. “Because we must continue offering our customers maximum planning security, we have taken these decisions early on in light of the current situation.”
The next edition of THE TIRE COLOGNE will be held on the regularly scheduled date, in May 2022. “The original early-summer date scheduled for even-numbered calendar years has been a fixture in the international tyre and wheel industry for decades”, Chief Operating Officer Oliver Frese pointed out. “That is why we have decided against postponing this event to another time. Instead, we are already working full throttle to plan sales activities for the upcoming regular event in 2022.”
Months ago, interzum 2021 was conceived to make it possible for the event, which was originally hybrid in scope, to be held in purely digital form as well. With this in mind, in early May there will be a digital platform at interzum@home, presenting innovations to suppliers in the furniture industry and the interior furnishings sector and addressing current topics with top industry representatives. “Even though there is no substitute for a physical trade fair with real attendance and real contacts, we offer a diverse platform that certainly must be considered as state-of-the-art and will achieve maximum reach”, Frese explained. Hettich, Blum, Häfele and Vauth-Sagel are already the first market leaders to announce that they will be presenting their innovations in the virtual space, at interzum@home.
In the current situation, digital events are excellent solutions, but Koelnmesse continues to focus on relaunching trade fairs as soon as possible. All of the preparations in this direction have already been made. “We will continue to be there for our customers and partners: whether this involves the upcoming physical trade fairs, extensive advice at a purely digital event, or general interaction around conducting trade fairs during pandemics”, as trade fair head Böse confirmed.
The relaunch could be rung in with the world’s largest garden-lifestyle trade fair, spoga+gafa, from 30 May to 1 June 2021: From the end of February, Koelnmesse will consult with the participating exhibitor and visitor associations about the opportunity to successfully hold a trade fair in three months’ time. In the interest of gaining a complete view of opinions internationally, spoga+gafa will conduct a survey of its visitors and exhibitors in the next few weeks, so that we can act in the interests of the industry in early March.
