It had to take place "physically" with stands and visitors as happens every September in Berlin (after the 2020 stop) but the great German and world event consumer electronics and household appliances, IFA (Internationale Funkausstellung), the next September edition will also be skipped.
The promise to return to see Berlin, its large and fun entertainment and technology fair, had to surrender to the still heavy consequences of the pandemic. Martin Ecknig, CEO of Messe Berlin, stated it very clearly: “We have not taken this decision lightly. IFA Berlin is undoubtedly the most important event of the year for brands and retailers. IFA Berlin connects our industry with professional visitors, media and real consumers like no other event. However, everyone's health and safety must be absolutely paramount. Efforts to contain this pandemic – from introducing vaccination programs to resuming international travel – have not happened at the pace we had hoped. In light of these developments, this difficult and disappointing decision was inevitable".
As is happening for other trade fairs, the difficulties derive first of all from the uncertainties about the progress of vaccinations in those countries and areas, such as South Asia or Eastern Europe and Russia, which prevent many professional exhibitors and visitors from plan trips and hotels in time and to be able to do so with the necessary certainty that the investments will not prove to be useless.
Another consideration - underlines the IFA summit - is the fact that Messe Berlin continues to support the fight against COVID-19 by converting parts of its exhibition area into a vaccination center and a hospital facility of emergency. All the more so now that this emergency situation is likely to last longer than originally anticipated. The appointment for a "normal" edition was postponed to September 2022.
Meanwhile other world fairs were canceled for the second time and the same Salone del Mobile in Milan, revisited with a different and agile formula and assigned to the great architect Stefano Boeri and his team, will not take place in April but, as is known, in September. Among so many difficulties and unforgivable defections (without the Salone the worldwide success of the made in Italy house there would never have been), but with the hope that it is an auspicious return for the entire sector.
