In this way the sponsors of the international trade fair for water, heating and air conditioning are responding to the latest trend in COVID-19 infection rates and the concomitant tightening of travel restrictions.
At this moment, the decision means that sufficient time will remain for all participants to design and implement an attractive digital ISH.
Wolfgang Marzin, president and chief executive of Messe Frankfurt, explains: 'Over the past months, we have done everything possible to ensure that ISH 2021 can also be held as a classic trade fair with personal encounters. Unfortunately, the latest pandemic developments have led to growing uncertainty among both exhibitors and visitors. Coupled with the renewed tightening of official and corporate travel restrictions, this means it is no longer possible to hold ISH as a physical event offering the customary high standard of quality. Therefore next year, as an exceptional measure, there will be an exclusively digital ISH, which will be the industry's central virtual platform for business and exchange of information. Here we shall be able to bundle all exhibitor activities and link them with our own facilities in an intelligent way. We will contact the exhibitors very soon with a package of services, as well as activate our international sales networks to attract visitors.'
Mr Marzin further assured all exhibitors that they will be able to participate, including those who had decided not to take part in a physical ISH.
The ISH sponsors – the Federation of the German Heating Industry (BDH), the Association of Air Conditioning and Ventilation in Buildings (FGK), the German Sanitary Industry Association (VDS), the German Association for Energy Efficiency in Building Services (VdZ) and the German Sanitation, Heating and Air Conditioning Association (ZVSHK) – fully concur in this decision and support the digital ISH 2021.
ISH 2021 will take the form of a purely digital event and offer a wide variety of features including, for example, exhibitor presentations (products, specifications, videos, contact persons, chat function, one-to-one video calls), as well as intelligent, AI-aided matchmaking with suitable business contacts for lead generation. Additionally, there will be live streams and on-demand transmissions of the programme of events, as well as an appointments system for online meetings with exhibitors. All features will be available worldwide during the event around the clock and across all time zones. Further information about this will follow shortly.