Ambiente 2022 has been cancelled. Organisers Messe Frankfurt have blamed the “deteriorating situation†worldwide due to the ongoing spread of Omicron as the cause of cancellation. They say Omicron is making it “impossible†to host the fair and called the decision to cancel “ anything but easy for usâ€. They will offer a refund of any stand rent already paid to exhibitors.
In a statement to exhibitors Messe Frankfurt stated:
“The easing of the pandemic situation that was still hoped for in December is no longer in sight. Instead, the situation is deteriorating worldwide with an enormous, unforeseeable dynamic. This extreme deterioration due to the spread of the Omicron variant in Europe and Germany currently makes it impossible for us – Messe Frankfurt – as the organiser of the leading international trade fair Ambiente to keep its date in Frankfurt mid-February 2022. We will, of course, refund any stand rent already paid.
Even if the number of exhibitors had been reduced, Ambiente would still have been the world’s leading event for its product segment. However, the exponential increase in the number of infections worldwide in a very short time and the accompanying multitude of developments and resolutions, which are clearly outside our sphere of influence, will lead to a significant deterioration in the general conditions and the necessary prerequisites for holding Ambiente as a major event of international relevance mid-February 2022. These developments include the classification of Germany as a high-risk area and the associated travel warnings and international and intercontinental travel restrictions in countries such as India, Japan and the United States, as well as the corresponding quarantine obligations. Equally important are the steadily rising infection figures and the accompanying urgent appeal, among others by the Robert Koch Institute and the expert council of the German Federal Government, to continue to reduce contacts to a minimum and to cancel all major events. At present, there are even further international fears that the critical infrastructure will not be maintained due to the highly contagious Omicron variant.
The majority of the exhibiting and visiting companies at Ambiente are reacting to this overall situation with travel and trade fair attendance bans for reasons of duty of care towards their employees to protect them from health risks. The global willingness to travel is decreasing enormously at the moment.
Therefore, this decision was anything but easy for us. However, in agreement with large parts of the industries represented at the fairs, it is now our responsibility to take this difficult step. The last few months have been characterised by optimism, energy and ideas to give Ambiente a successful new start after the forced break in 2021. We would therefore like to thank all our partners from the sector, and thus you, who worked with us on the trade fairs until the very end and, like us, put their heart and soul, energy and passion into organising them.
There are no plans to postpone the event. Since the trend-oriented order cycles of the international consumer-goods sector require an annual event at the beginning of the year, a postponement to the second half of the year would not meet the needs of the exhibiting companies and visitors.
Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH will, of course, refund any stand rental already paid or waive any outstanding stand rent claims. We will contact you separately next week with regard to the reversal.
We would like to thank you very much for your loyalty, your patience and for standing by us in these challenging times.â€
