The corona crisis has caused many trade fairs to fail. From September they are allowed again in Bavaria. That is good for Ufra in Schweinfurt, but doubts remain.
Photo: Martina Müller
International craft fair in Munich, book fair in Leipzig or Hanover fair: Because of the corona pandemic, 150 fairs have been canceled or postponed this year. Now the industry in Bavaria sees a light at the end of the tunnel: on Tuesday the state government allowed that trade fairs can take place again from September 1st.
Managing Director Katherina Köhler, whose Sandner GmbH organizes the Ufra consumer show in Schweinfurt every two years, is happy about this. She assumes that the second largest event of its kind in Lower Franconia after the Main Franconia fair in Würzburg will take place as planned from September 26 to October 4, Köhler told this editorial team on Wednesday.
The sticking point will be the hygiene rules
But one important unknown remains: Which hygiene rules will apply to trade fairs in the Free State from September is not yet clear. That had to be negotiated between the trade fair operators and the Ministry of Health, it said from Munich.
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This uncertainty means that Ufra boss Köhler “cannot yet clarify” how in detail the Schweinfurt fair will last take place this year with 71,000 visitors at the Volksfestplatz. Therefore, it is also not clear to what extent the halls are occupied and how many exhibitors are admitted to the bottom line. If the hygiene rules are in place, then it is no problem to remodel the halls and exhibition center at short notice. “Everything is still possible,” said Köhler.
Why the Ufra boss is confident
Her confidence is strengthened by a special effect: Because of the fact that Corona trade fairs have been canceled elsewhere, she has received more and more inquiries from exhibitors from all over Germany over the past few days who have so far not been represented at the Ufra. These exhibitors apparently wanted to compensate for the losses of the past few weeks with a stand in Schweinfurt, Köhler speculates.
If the Ufra bursts because of the corona pandemic, it does not see its Schweinfurt company in danger. “We just have to continue planning.” Ufra is about a business volume of “many hundreds of thousands of euros”. With a view to the show, Köhler does not want to paint black in autumn: “At the moment, hope is increasing day by day.”
Although the next Main Franconia trade fair is only 15 months away, the managers of the Afag operating company in Nuremberg are already thinking about the show, which had 101,000 visitors last year. The planning had started, so far there were no cancellations from exhibitors, Afag spokeswoman Kathrin Winkler said on Wednesday. “Rather, we notice that many feel the need to meet customers again at trade fairs – for example in the construction sector.”
According to Winkler, Afag does not expect the corona crisis to have any “profound effects” on the upcoming Main Franconia trade fair in Würzburg. This assessment contradicts the fact that experts assume a long-lasting economic crisis as a result of Corona.
A crisis that could generally also affect the trade fair business. Just a few days ago, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) in Würzburg-Schweinfurt and the Chamber of Crafts for Lower Franconia had indicated that the economy in the region had slumped massively and the outlook was gloomy.
Afag announced on Wednesday that the Consumenta consumer show will take place in Nuremberg from October 24th to November 1st as planned. In the meantime the autumn fair Main-Spessart in Lohr was canceled due to Corona.
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Schweinfurt
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Wurzburg
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Jürgen Haug-Peichl
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Book fairs
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Consumenta
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Corona virus
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Chamber of Crafts for Lower Franconia
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Chamber of Crafts
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Craft fairs
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Hannover tradefair
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Chamber of Commerce Würzburg-Schweinfurt
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International craft fair
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Main Franconia Fair
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Economic crises
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