As the industry ramps up for Ambiente 2022 in February, organisers Messe Frankfurt have moved to reassure visitors in the face of rising Covid-19 cases across Europe.
The show will go on, they say… albeit with increasingly strict hygiene measures.
The actual rise in Corona figures in Germany and the media coverage is currently causing uncertainty with regard to trade fair participation, say organisers but they are firm that Ambiente will adhere to the highest safety standards.
“Eleven weeks before the start of Ambiente on 11 February 2022, one thing is quite clear: Ambiente is, and remains, the most important and most international consumer-goods fair in the world”, explains Philipp Ferger, vice president consumer goods fairs. “More than 2,400 exhibitors from 74 countries have already confirmed their participation in Frankfurt and are looking forward to the hustle and bustle on the exhibition grounds. With 272,000 gross square metres, the grounds will have an 87 per cent occupancy rate compared to the last event in 2020.”
“Especially now that trade fair business and personal contact with the industry are possible again, we really appreciate that exhibitors stand by us and want to actively use Ambiente in Frankfurt as a platform for their business contacts and product presentations,” says Ferger. Half of the decline in exhibitors is due to travel restrictions imposed by the Peoples’ Republic of China.
“In addition, the international vaccination rates and the assessments from the most important exhibitor and visitor countries make us very confident. Even if a mandatory certificate of vaccination or recovery from Covid 19 were to be imposed, a strong international participation would be realistic and achievable, because the vaccination rate among our international exhibitors and visitors who want to come to Frankfurt is above average according to the sample of our network of subsidiaries and sales partners,” adds Ferger.
The fact that Messe Frankfurt’s internationally active customers have an above-average EU-compliant vaccination rate of up to 99 percent was revealed by a survey of exhibitors and visitors of Ambiente, Christmasworld, Creativeworld and Paperworld conducted by Messe Frankfurt’s globally active sales network.
According to the results of this random sample so far, the picture is clear: the majority of exhibitors and visitors from the top ten visitor countries, such as Italy, France, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Spain, Turkey, the USA, and Japan, are already fully vaccinated with the vaccines approved in the EU.
The same applies to B2B customers from the top 50 visitor countries. This means that not only from Europe, but also from North America, South America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, the B2B customers have an above-average vaccination rate and can therefore travel to Germany.
According to estimates by the subsidiaries and sales partners, a large proportion of the internationally active exhibitors and visitors in many countries have already taken care of the question of vaccination recognition and EU-compliant vaccination at a very early stage, so that they can now apply for flights and visa without any problems.Â
This is a confident result of the surveys conducted by Messe Frankfurt’s subsidiaries and sales partners. They have been in active contact with exhibitors and visitors in all major countries for decades, provide information on the vaccines permitted in Germany and offer support with regard to travel, hotels and German entry regulations.
“We are very pleased that the intensive contacts of our local representatives all over the world confirm that we can assume a stable, high vaccination rate among our customers. This means that the requirements for flights and visa can be met. We are convinced that safe and successful trade fairs are not only possible under the given circumstances, but also extremely important for trade to pick up again worldwide,” Ferger sums up.
Protection and hygiene concept for safe trade fair visits
Messe Frankfurt’s protection and hygiene concept was developed in cooperation with the responsible authorities of the State of Hesse and with the recommendations of the Robert Koch Institute and is regularly adapted to current conditions. The safety of all exhibitors, visitors, partners and employees has top priority.
Measures include 100 per cent fresh air supply in the exhibition halls, generous design of halls and entrances to maintain safety distances, intensive cleaning measures, a hygiene-adapted catering concept and the wearing of mouth and nose protection.
Information on the protection and hygiene concept as well as travel/admission to the grounds can be found here: ambiente.messefrankfurt.com/hygiene
