Europe’s biggest wine trade affair ProWein Düsseldorf has officially been postponed from March to May this year, due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant affecting global travels.
The trade fair which was originally scheduled to take place on March 27 to 29 after 2021 edition was cancelled due to the pandemic. The fair will now be moved to May 15-17.
Dr. Stephan Keller, Lord Mayor of the North Rhine Westphalian capital Düsseldorf and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Messe Düsseldorf, welcomes this decision.
He said, “All parties – participating companies and business at the location – are interested in successful and the safest leading Düsseldorf trade fairs possible. The currently tightened pandemic situation does not allow for sufficient planning security. Therefore, postponing the trade fairs to early summer makes most sense for all parties involved. Based on the experience of the past two pandemic years and the assessment of virologists, we then assume that the situation will improve considerably and that the trade fairs will be able to develop their positive effect much more strongly”.
Wolfram N. Diener, CEO of Messe Düsseldorf, emphasizes the backing for the new trade fair dates: “The tenor among our exhibitors is: We want and need ProWein – but at a point in time that promises the biggest prospects of success. Together with the partners and associations involved we regard early summer as the ideal period for this. We not only expect infection patterns to calm down but also more people to be able to enter the country and take part. This means exhibiting companies as well as visitors can do their business in an environment that is clearly less affected by Covid-19.”
‘ProWein goes city’ also postponed
Meanwhile, “ProWein goes city”, the joint initiative of the trade association Destination Düsseldorf and Messe Düsseldorf, will follow this postponement and again become a central attraction for wine lovers and travel enthusiasts thanks to its diverse programme in restaurants, hotels and specialist retail stores.
Other major international affairs that have been rescheduled this year include 54th Vinitaly, which is now planned for April 10-13, 2022.
