This year's Orgatec trade fair in Cologne, which was set to take place 27 to 31 October, has been cancelled in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The organisers of the Orgatec office furniture announced that the 2020 event will not take place as numerous exhibitors and visitors cancelled their tickets to the event.
"The situation of this trade fair increasingly began to reflect current developments around Covid-19 and the economic situation," said trade fair organiser Koelnmesse.
"In recent weeks, a large majority of exhibitors and trade visitors decided not to attend Orgatec after all."
"These cancellations are motivated by concern for the health of employees, but also by the economic situation of the companies themselves," it continued. "This is something we completely understand." Orgatec will return in 2022, when it will take place from 25 to 29 October.
"It was best to respond to wishes of the majority of industry"
The organisers made the decision even though they already prepared a plan to operate in a "coronavirus-compliant manner".
"We reassessed the overall situation and decided that it was best to respond to the cancellations and wishes of the majority of industry exhibitors and trade visitors by not implementing Orgatec 2020," continued the statement.
"This was a very difficult decision for us. With our comprehensive package of measures, #B-SAFE4business, we were already very well pr...