Speak for the industry and protect the interests of MICE companies

AUMA， the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry， combines all the forces that shape the trade fair market on a partnership basis. Founded in 1907， it currently represents the national and international interests of 74 members. Marco Spinger， AUMA Director of Global Markets & IT Division， tells the reporter that as the COVID-19 epidemic is spreading rapidly， Germany as a trade fair venue has already been hit hard by cancellations and postponements of trade fairs. “Trade fair organisers and service providers like booth constructors are already suffering from heavy financial losses.” He reveals. Many other branches of business are affected as well， especially the hotel and catering industry， the transport industry and numerous local suppliers and contractors. These industries are suffering considerable losses in sales with a direct impact on employees. Furthermore， due to sales losses the tax revenue will fail， hence cities or regions are directly affected economically. Thus， a loss of about 5.5 billion Euro for the national economy is to be expected – just by cancellations and postponements of trade fairs. This could affect more than 45，000 jobs. These sums do not include lost sales of companies， which had expected to generate turnover during the trade fair. “These figures are many times higher than the above-mentioned sums and can only be substituted to a limited extent through other measures. No other marketing device is able to represent a company and its products as comprehensively as the personal contact.” Marco Spinger points out. Moreover， the situation is unprecedented， so the AUMA team have to adapt almost every day to manage this.

Marco Spinger tells the reporter that as a large number of international trade fairs in March， April， May and June 2020， the organisers have decided， in consultation with respective authorities and the exhibiting industry， to postpone dates until autumn 2020 or early 2021. Some trade fairs with an annual cycle will not take place this year， but will be postponed to the next regular date in 2021. AUMA provides up-todate information on postponements and cancellations of exhibitions in its exhibition database at www.auma.de/Date-changes.

Meanwhile， AUMA is supporting its members in these difficult times with all its strength by lobbying the Federal Government and the European Union in order to underline the economic impact on the economy as a whole and to ask for support for exhibiting companies， exhibition organizers and trade fair service providers such as stand construction companies. Some immediate measures have been taken already， especially in order to protect employees and companies from bankruptcy. But AUMA is still communicating the specificity of the German trade fair industry.

Concerning the long-term impact of this epidemic， the umbrella organization of the German Chambers of Trade and Industry（DIHK） just published a topical survey on the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. One result shows that 41.5 % of the German companies are expecting negative effects on their business due to postponed trade fairs and this is one of the main concerns of the companies being surveyed. However， Marco Spinger is very positive that after this situation is overcome， trade shows will be again needed as an essential tool to create platforms for all industry sectors.