imm Cologne will not take place on the planned dates in Cologne in January 2022. The executive board of Koelnmesse reached this decision in close consultation with the Association of the German Furniture Industry (VDM) and in agreement with other well-known industry representatives at the international level.
“This step is restricted exclusively to imm cologne and its specific requirements for trade fair operations. We are principally planning, as before, to carry out our spring events in 2022. The political guidelines allow for this, and, following the excellent and safe course of the past autumn trade fairs, this must remain our mission in the interests of the participating industries“, says COO Oliver Frese.
The VDM, as the industry sponsor of the event, and against the background of the current pandemic situation, sees the economic success of the event and thus the successful restart of imm cologne in January as extremely endangered. “Following consultation with numerous exhibitors, industry representatives and trading partners, there is either no question of participation on the part of German exhibitors or exhibitors from the German-speaking region, or this is very much in doubt”, according to Jan Kurth, CEO of the VDM. Similar feedback also came from many European countries.
Working on options
“The current special basic conditions in the interior design industry make the practicability of imm cologne almost impossible”, according to Oliver Frese. “We are currently working actively on options for also still being able to offer exhibitors of imm cologne an attractive trade fair presence at the international level. Here, both spoga+gafa and ORGATEC present excellent alternatives in the interior design portfolio of Koelnmesse”.
The cancellation is restricted to imm cologne and expressly does not include other B2B events planned in Cologne for spring 2022. Koelnmesse, together with the VDM and the exhibiting industry, states that it will do everything possible to get a powerful and innovative imm cologne 2023 on its feet.
