Photo taken on Feb. 29, 2020 shows posters of Oman, partner country of the 2020 ITB Berlin travel trade show, outside the Messe Berlin in Berlin, capital of Germany. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)
During the past two COVID-19 years, Germany's trade show industry and associated sectors suffered total economic losses of more than 46 billion euros.
BERLIN, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- At least 100 of the 390 planned trade fairs in Germany have already been postponed or canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry (AUMA) said on Wednesday.
The economic damage to the German trade fair industry already amounted to around 5 billion euros (5.6 billion U.S. dollars) this year, according to AUMA.
"COVID-19 regulations of the federal states, which are valid for four weeks or less, are no basis for business," said Joern Holtmeier, managing director of AUMA.
People visit the Caravan Salon, a trade fair for caravans and motorhomes, in Dusseldorf, Germany, on Aug. 28, 2021. (Photo by Tang Ying/Xinhua)
During the past two COVID-19 years, the country's trade show industry and associated sectors suffered total economic losses of more than 46 billion euros, according to AUMA. More than two in three planned trade shows were canceled in 2020 and 2021.
Before the pandemic, the country's trade show industry had contributed around 28 billion euros annually to the German economy, according to calculations by the German ifo Institute. (1 euro = 1.13 U.S. dollars)
A visitor wearing a face mask walks past a sign of hygiene instructions at an exhibition hall of the 2020 IFA fair in Berlin, capital of Germany, Sept. 3, 2020. The technology trade fair IFA kicked off here on Thursday in a scaled-back format due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)■
