Il Furniture expo is postponed from April 21-26 to June 16-21. No cancellation, therefore, as well as some newspapers had hypothesized. The cancellation would have caused damage of at least 120 million euros. The decision to postpone (and therefore to save) the Salone del Mobile was taken on Tuesday 25 February, during an animated board meeting marked by the brutal coronavirus effect.
Cancellation was completely excluded because – as the organizers, companies, operators and even the mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala had underlined – it would have caused considerable damage to the image of the Fair and of Made in Italy.
“I'm asking for a great effort from the friends of Federlegno Arredo and the Salone del Mobile – he said Living Room – and a proof of trust in the city. I realize that now participants and visitors from all over the world have to be called, but we will be by your side”.
Even China, due to the serious delays that have jeopardized the containment of the effects of the virus, is paying heavily in the rich trade fair sector, with a series of cancellations or postponements, such as that of the great Design Shanghai 2020 which runs from March to May (it will take place from 26 to 29 May).
Returning to Italy, the Lombardy Region has decided to cancel all the events and fairs scheduled for the week from February 24th to March XNUMXst. Have already been postponed the Mido (eyewear, a vital sector for the economy), My Plant (the world of “green”) e MCE Exhibition Conference Expocomfort (air conditioning, thermo-sanitary heating) rescheduled for 8-11 September.
The Bologna Fair had to transfer instead Cosmoprof (a world-class trade fair) from mid-March to June, from 11 to 15. And finally, many car manufacturers are wondering what will happen to the GIMS, The Geneva Auto Show, which should take place from 5 to 15 March and which will most likely be postponed. Even if the Palaexpo of Geneva, the organizer of the event, has implemented a massive operation for the sanitization of the show and very strict rules for exhibitors and visitors. But very important defections from Korea, Italy and Germany can already be glimpsed on the horizon.
