ITB Berlin 2020 will not take place. Less than a week before the world’s largest travel trade show was due to open on March 04, in a statement on February 28, ITB Berlin said that, “Due to the rapid spread of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) the Federal Ministry of Health and the Federal Ministry of Economics have stated their opinion that ITB Berlin be cancelled.”

It further noted that the responsible “health authority in Berlin imposed significantly tighter restrictions on holding the event. Among its requirements the authority stipulated that each participant would need to prove to Messe Berlin that they were not from a designated risk area or had not been in contact with a person or persons from a risk area. It is not possible for Messe Berlin to satisfy these requirements overall.”

Exhibitors were already in Berlin and work on the often large and elaborate displays for the event had begun. The decision to cancel will impact a lot of people. In 2019 a total of 10,000 companies and organisations from 181 countries exhibited their products and services to around 160,000 visitors, including 113,500 trade visitors.

Our sources revealed that while exhibitors understood the need to cancel, many wondered why the decision had been deferred till the last minute when many were already at the location and work had already begun.

Some suggested the delay was to await the approval of the health authorities as being necessary for insurance purposes.

Messe Berlin the trade fair company operating ITB Berlin, said in its statement that it had for weeks made it known that a decision on holding or cancelling large-scale events would only be taken based on the recommendations or instructions of the relevant specialist authorities, saying, “Only they possess the necessary information and specialist knowledge in order to draw the right conclusions.”

Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Messe Berlin Wolf-Dieter Wolf said, “Not once in the 54-year history of the event have ITB Berlin and Messe Berlin experienced a similar situation. We would like to thank all exhibitors and partners from all over the world who over the past few days and weeks have stood by ITB Berlin. We look forward to continuing the trusted relationship with our partners in the market.”

NOTE:  This article was corrected to show the date as March 04 not March 10