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Interzoo to be held in odd-numbered years from 2021 onwards

Interzoo Newsroom

28 May 2020

Interzoo to be held in odd-numbered years from 2021 onwards

The coronavirus crisis is responsible for many changes, and has spared neither the pet industry nor the trade fair industry. As a result, the Interzoo originally scheduled for May 2020 had to be postponed until 1 to 4 June 2021. In connection with this, Interzoo organizer WZF (Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft Zoologischer Fachbetriebe GmbH) has also decided to hold the biennial event in odd-numbered years as of 2021.

“Originally, we would have celebrated the opening of Interzoo 2020 with 2,000 exhibitors and almost 40,000 visitors, but due to COVID-19 we had to reschedule the event by a year. We are now very happy to be able to announce a date for Interzoo in 2021”, says WZF’s CEO Alexandra Facklamm. “In selecting this new date, it was important for us to talk with all the parties that are crucial to making Interzoo a success.” Although all stakeholders agree that the pet supply sector will face major economic challenges in the years to come, “a positive signal provided by a successful trade fair can generate the impulse needed to help the industry through difficult times.”

WZF and the German Pet Trade and Industry Association ZZF (Zentralverband Zoologischer Fachbetriebe e.V.) received major support from the industry with the decision to move Interzoo to next year and also completing the transition to holding the event in odd-numbered years. “Since the last Interzoo in 2018, companies have put a lot of effort and hard work into developing new products that were ready to enter the market this year. Manufacturers need a market platform like Interzoo in order to get the best benefit from these new developments. For many companies, four years without the world’s leading fair in their sector would be too long a break. Given the quality of its visitors and its global reach, Interzoo is ideally suited to developing new markets, executing international product rollouts and establishing new business contacts,” says Facklamm.

According to Katharina Engling, chairwoman of the Interzoo Advisory Committee, attending the world’s leading trade fair in the wake of a global crisis can contribute to economic recovery for both companies and the sector as a whole. “To get quickly back onto the path to success, the specialist trade and the manufacturing industry must be given an appropriate opportunity to prepare for business. As the world’s largest trade fair for pet supplies, Interzoo meets this requirement perfectly. The deals concluded at Interzoo are the economic foundation for many of the businesses that exhibit here.”

The Interzoo postponed till next year will once again take place from Tuesday (1 June 2021) to Friday (4 June 2021) and will span a public holiday (several of Germany’s federal states will celebrate Corpus Christi on 3 June 2021). This should help with the planning process for many independent specialist suppliers intending to travel to Nuremberg as visitors. “The holiday will be important for our German trade fair visitors, since they will definitely want to be on hand for their customers on normal working days following the coronavirus crisis,” Facklamm comments. “We are therefore doubly pleased, not only to have found a good date in an otherwise full NürnbergMesse event calendar, but also to have one that includes a holiday in the same way as the schedule we were accustomed to.”

Currently, trade fair organizers and venues around the world are working with the authorities and professional organizations to develop strategies for holding future events safely and successfully in a potential context of stricter hygiene and social distancing rules. This is something the next Interzoo will also benefit from.

The Interzoo project team is currently working with exhibitors who are already registered on the necessary steps with regard to the postponement of the event. Then, from 1 July 2020, exhibitors that have not yet registered for Interzoo 2021 can also book their stands via www.interzoo.com.