Leading global trade fair enables safe restart for the post-corona phase
Cologne: The coronavirus pandemic is also posing unprecedented challenges for the dental industry. The impact on markets and various business models are still difficult to assess. At the same time, all industry participants are working intensively on creative solutions to optimally ensure safe and productive cooperation with partners and suppliers, especially in times of crisis. As the world’s leading trade fair for the dental industry, IDS plays a key role for a successful restart of business in the post-corona era in terms of establishing the best possible framework for safe, personal exchange and encouraging a spirit of optimism. “In the past few months, we developed a comprehensive concept for restarting trade fairs in Cologne based on extensive processes and close cooperation with all the relevant authorities. IDS will also use this concept to provide new inspiration for the dental business. We have created a secure communication platform where experts, enthusiasts and decision makers from a wide range of areas can come together in order to explore new, sustainable avenues for the dental industry,” says Oliver Frese, Managing Director of Koelnmesse. For Mark Stephen Pace, Chairman of the Board of the Association of the German Dental Industry (VDDI), IDS 2021 will also be the decisive kick-off for a new start after the corona crisis: “The international industry is looking at IDS 2021 with high expectations because it plays a significant role in successful crisis management, especially with regard to the personal exchange of strategies in the various markets and regions. Only through direct dialogue can you examine your own needs and positions and analyse a reorientation, also in terms of value chains.”
The focus of a trade fair is on personal face-to-face contact. In order to make this networking as safe and successful as possible, Koelnmesse has developed a host of measures in accordance with the provisions of the corona protection ordinance of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and in close coordination with the authorities in Cologne. These measures work together seamlessly and regulate interaction at the trade fair. Our goal is to ensure the highest degree of professional safety and create an environment in which industries and business can grow again. Koelnmesse has compiled its measures to protect exhibitors and visitors under four sections entitled SHOW SAFE, MEET SAFE, STAY SAFE and VISIT SAFE. These measures regulate safe interaction at the trade fair and ensure that exhibitors and visitors can once again meet in a relaxed manner. IDS therefore offers plenty of possibilities and room for spreading large numbers of participants out safely over the corresponding areas. Koelnmesse’s digital signage system offers a further advantage. Planning the stands with larger floor areas will ensure that minimum distances can be maintained. As a result, the number of visitors at a stand will not be limited, provided that a minimum distance of 1.5 metres can be observed. At the same time, the distribution of trade fair participants and flow of visitors will be monitored and, if necessary, regulated with suitable technical devices. The safety concept for the upcoming IDS also includes restricting the ticketing system exclusively to online tickets and fully registering all participants to ensure traceability. Koelnmesse will review the security concept on a regular basis and adapt it to the latest conditions accordingly.
IDS 2021 sees the crisis as an opportunity to rethink its trade fair philosophy and adapt to requirements that will certainly be different from those prior to the corona pandemic. However, face-to-face encounters will continue to be essential for maintaining existing contacts and developing new business opportunities. Only then can joint solutions for crisis management be developed, existing business relationships secured and new business contacts forged. IDS 2021 is therefore designed as an open forum in order to facilitate precisely this form of exchange across borders for the international dental industry.
AUMA, the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry, also views trade fairs as an indispensable catalyst for economic development. In this regard, AUMA Chairman Philip Harting had this to say: “Trade fairs will once again provide impetus for purchasing and procurement in many industries through the presentation of innovations and personal trust-building communication.”
IDS (International Dental Show) takes place in Cologne every two years and is organised by the GFDI Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Dental-Industrie mbH, the commercial enterprise of the Association of German Dental Manufacturers (VDDI) and is staged by Koelnmesse GmbH, Cologne.
-PR