The organisers of Bauma, the world’s biggest trade fair for the construction equipment sector, have announced that the next edition of the event has been postponed to October 24, 2022, from its earlier announced date of April 4-10.
Organisers Messe München said in a statement that the new date for the event is October 24–30, 2022, and that the decision, taken in view of the Covid-19 situation, is the result of many discussions it had with top industry representatives as well as its Advisory Board.
“Considering the particularly long planning times for exhibitors and organisers at the world’s largest trade show, the decision had to be made now. This provides exhibitors and visitors a secure planning basis for preparing the upcoming Bauma,” added the statement.
It added that initially, Bauma was to be held from April 04 to 10, 2022 and “despite the pandemic, both the industry’s response and the booking level were very high”. However, in numerous discussions with customers, there was a growing recognition that the April date involved too many uncertainties in view of the global pandemic. “The prevailing opinion was that it is currently difficult to assess whether worldwide travel — which is crucial for the success of the trade show — will be largely unhindered again in a year’s time,” said Messe München in its statement.
The postponement was especially advocated by global exhibitors, who expect customers from all over the world to attend the event and make correspondingly high investments in stand construction, logistics and hotel capacity. They felt that the benefit of the trade show — bringing together the entire industry and to be a hub for all markets — would be jeopardized if the April date were to be adhered to.
Klaus Dittrich, chairman and CEO of Messe München, said: “The decision to postpone Bauma was not an easy one for us, of course. But we had to make it now, before the exhibitors start planning their participation in the trade show and make corresponding investments. Unfortunately, despite the vaccination campaign that has been launched around the world, it is not yet possible to predict when the pandemic will be largely under control and unlimited worldwide travel will be possible again. This makes participation difficult to plan and calculate for both exhibitors and visitors. Under these circumstances, we would not have been able to fulfil our central promise that Bauma, the world’s leading trade fair, represents the entire spectrum of the industry and generate international reach like no other comparable event. After all, Bauma’s last edition welcomed participants from over 200 countries around the world. Hence, the decision is consistent and logical.”
Joachim Schmid, MD of the Construction Equipment and Plant Engineering Association in the German Engineering Federation (VDMA), supported the decision and welcomed that Messe München has followed the industry’s request. “The decision is tough, but it gives all parties the planning basis they need. The industry will now do everything it can for a strong Bauma in October 2022. Even without a health crisis, companies need to overcome challenges such as digitalisation, autonomous construction sites and sustainability, and stay abreast of changes to avoid falling behind. For this, they need Bauma as an innovation barometer and networking platform. Next year in October, we will all meet again in Munich.”
