BASELWORLD POSTPONED TO JANUARY 2021
Basel, Switzerland, 28 February 2020 – For health safety reasons and in accordance with the precautionary principle following the bans of large-scale public and private events issued today by the Swiss federal and cantonal authorities, Baselworld announces that it has taken the decision to postpone the show to Thursday 28 th January 2021 to Tuesday 2 nd February 2021 (Press Day on Wednesday 27th January), due to concerns related to Covid-19.
Baselworld, which was to be held from April 30th to May 5th , 2020, has taken this difficult decision in close consultation with its partners and the health authorities in charge, in whom Baselworld has full confidence for their expertise and recommendations for the benefit of exhibitors, visitors and collaborators. Following today’s official ban on large public gatherings which meant direct repercussions for the show, Baselworld had no other option than to make a decision as all preparations, in particular, construction in the halls and of the stands was scheduled to commence next week (start March).
Michel Loris-Melikoff, Managing Director of Baselworld said: “We deeply regret having had to postpone the event as planned due to the coronavirus, in full consideration of the needs of the watch and jewellery industry to be able to benefit from the platform to develop their business. This decision has been all the more difficult in view of all the positives that have been achieved through listening and dialogue over the last few months, which resulted in new concepts and new solutions, that have attracted exhibitors to return and new ones to sign on. We registered encouraging growth in all sectors; watchmaking, jewellery, the gemstone and pearl trade, as well as in the technical branch.
By postponing the show to January 2021, we have found a solution that enables the industry and all our customers to avoid losing a full year and at the same time reset their calendars for the beginning of the year, a period that is conductive to the presentation of their new products, new trends and order taking. This postponing will also allow Baselworld to continue developing and bringing new formats and solutions as well as improvements to the new concept we propose.”
Bernd Stadlwieser, Group CEO of MCH said: “Within the process of the last weeks, I was very impressed by the involvement and trust of all our customers, partners, stakeholders and team, to pro-actively find the very best solution in the interests of the industries. By communicating intensively all together, we were able to work on different scenarios and to jointly decide on the very best one. I would like to thank everybody for their belief in and commitment to our platform.”
Baselworld is not only the largest watch and jewellery event in the world, but is also destined to become the industry’s largest global community platform, active all year round. In the coming weeks, we will be presenting a new digital service that is essential and useful to our entire community, and which we trust will meet the needs of the brands that have become even more important in these difficult and turbulent times.”
About Baselworld
Baselworld is the world’s largest gathering of the watch, jewellery, gemstone, related and technical industries. For more than 100 years, Baselworld has become the annual meeting place for the entire community of professionals, buyers, connoisseurs, collectors, journalists, influencers and enthusiasts who come to discover, share and exchange around the latest creations of the greatest brands and players in the industry.
Today, under the impetus of new management led by Michel Loris-Melikoff and his team, Baselworld is developing into a truly global event brand, bringing the community to life throughout the year, all over the world, thanks to a dynamic platform offering the industry a wealth of information, sharing and community networking tools, opportunities for events and experiences, services and appointments –digital and physical.
Baselworld is organized by the MCH Group, a globally leading live marketing company – headquartered in Basel (Switzerland) – with a comprehensive services network spanning the entire exhibition and event market. It owns and operates the exhibition centers in Basel and Zurich. It organizes around 40 exhibitions in Switzerland and abroad, including Art Basel in Basel, Miami Beach and Hong Kong. The companies in the segment of “Live Marketing Solutions” are present all over the globe and offer customized marketing solutions in the areas of strategic and conceptional consulting, marketing consulting, event management and exhibition and event structures.
