Rita Andrews, head of exhibitions at AMI, said “We have been reviewing the fast-changing situation daily, and we have been consulting with exhibitors, Messe Essen, local government and health authorities. Our primary concerns are for the health and safety of all attendees at our events, and delivering the very best audience for our exhibitors. With these factors in mind, we have taken the decision to postpone the expos to 7-8 October”.

The shows will remain in the same two halls at Messe Essen, retaining the same floorplans with five free-to-attend conference theatres. The aim is to retain the existing conference programmes, augmented with additional speakers over the coming months.

Andy Beevers, events director at the company said: “We felt it was important to make and announce this decision now, in order to end the current uncertainty and to allow exhibitors, speakers and attendees to plan effectively for the new dates."

Exhibitor numbers for the 2020 shows are up by over 80% compared to AMI’s launch event in 2018. More than 1,500 people have already registered to attend the 2020 expos and their bookings will transfer automatically to the new dates.

www.ami.international/exhibitions