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First Covid, now the Ukraine crisis, but ProWein on course for major fair in May
Proof that hosting a single annual major international trade event can be a risky business, ProWein has already suffered from the impact of Omicron in 2022 and now it’s the Ukraine crisis that presents a new concern – but the fair director is bullish about this year’s event.
Speaking to the drinks business yesterday, ProWein director Bastian Mingers admitted that the war in Ukraine had of course added an element of uncertainty to the Dusseldorf-based fair in 2022, before assuring us that as things stand, the wine and spirits exhibition was due to go ahead, and on its usual massive scale.
Having already postponed ProWein from March to May this year to avoid a peak in the Omicron variant of Covid-19 in Germany, Mingers told db that he thought he had dealt with the only threat to the international trade fair in 2022, but that he has since had to review his outlook.
“If you had asked me [about our plans for ProWein 2022] two weeks ago, then I would has said that we have passed the threat of Covid and nothing can stop any international business, but now, with the conflict [in Ukraine], it shows that there is always uncertainly and risk,” he began.
Continuing, he said, “But, on a global level, nothing is preventing ProWein going ahead in May,” pointing out that the international wine and spirits event was on track, alongside a number of major exhibitions taking place at the Düsseldorf show ground during that period.
With news this week that Putin may close a major gas pipeline to Germany, threatening as much as 50% of the country’s energy supplies, db asked Bastian whether there was any issue over the powering of ProWein, which hosts around 5,500 exhibitors.
No was the answer, with the fair ground unusually well-prepared for any disruption to its energy needs, not just due to a range of sources, but also because the site, if needed, can generate its own electricity, with enough generators and storage to mean that it’s “self sufficient”, Bastian told db.
Turning his attention to the company that owns ProWein, Messe Düsseldorf, Bastian said that the war in Ukraine had already affected the exhibition business.
That’s because, along with the exhibition space in Düsseldorf, Messe Düsseldorf has shows and offices around the world, including a subsidiary in Moscow, which was established over 40 years ago in October 1979 – and currently represents the group’s largest foreign market.
And, on 1 March, it was announced that Messe Düsseldorf was suspending all its business in Russia until further notice, which includes the activities of Messe Düsseldorf Moscow, which runs a number of successful fairs in Russia, although it has never organised an event for the drinks trade.
Meanwhile, Mingers told db that the wine trade’s reaction to this year’s new dates had been “pretty good”, commenting that most of the exhibitors were able to move to the new timing in mid-May.
Although the fair won’t reach its pre-Covid record size of 6,900 exhibitors, it is hoping to attract as many as 5,500 this year, while Bastian assured db that ProWein was “putting everything we can into getting buyers to Dusseldorf,” commenting that Messe Düsseldorf has people on the ground in 127 countries – “so we have a good network all over the globe”.
Finally, he was a pains to point out that visitors to this year’s ProWein can attend all three days of the fair.
Recording that there has been “some misunderstanding” about ticketing, he said that visitors could buy a ticket for each and every day of the fair, stressing that there was no limit on the amount of time that buyers could spend at ProWein in 2022.
More generally, he said that rules relating to Covid are due to be relaxed in Germany over the coming days, with Germany set to recognise the Sinovac-CoronaVac vaccine, which is currently not accepted in the country – an important step when it comes to buyers heading to Düsseldorf from China and some other nations.
He is also hopeful that most, if not all of the regulations related to the virus would be lifted on March 20, which he said, “will be our ‘freedom day’”.
Click here for more information on ProWein 2022, which will take place from 15 to 17 May.
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