Interzoo 2021 cancelled. Interzoo digital to replace show until 2022

The pet and aquatic industry were wondering just how Interzoo was going to take place this year and they’ve confirmed it. It isn’t, or at least not in any physical form anyway. 

One attendee just shared this correspondence on Facebook: 

“As a consequence of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and due to the persistent travel restrictions and conditions that remain unsafe for hosting international trade fairs, the Interzoo organizer WZF (Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft Zoologischer Fachbetriebe GmbH) in coordination with the Interzoo advisory committee and NürnbergMesse as the implementing organization has decided to hold Interzoo 2021 as an entirely online event.”

“At the same time, WZF and BolognaFiere S.p.A., organizer of Zoomark International, have changed their exhibition dates once again in the interest of exhibition participants in the pet industry. Thus the pet industry can mark the following dates in their calendars:”

“From June 1 – 4, 2021, “Interzoo digital” will take place as a global online event for the pet industry.”

“The next physical Interzoo trade fair will be held from 24 – 27 May 2022 in Nuremberg. Interzoo will then again open its gates in Nuremberg every second year in the even years.”

Impossible

With the global pandemic showing no signs of going away, even after the postponement of one year, Interzoo still wasn’t going to work.

Firstly you had the meeting of tens of thousands of people from literally all over the world. Handshaking, coughing, travelling together by car, train and plane, then staying together in hotels would have been a transmission recipe for disaster. 

Then you run the risk of individual travel bans and quarantine. Would the Brits even be able to travel to Germany for example, and once there would we have to quarantine, or be allowed back?

Then you have the holding off of even travelling to the show. Visitor numbers would be terribly low, exhibitors were already cancelling and what if whole countries pulled out of attending like China, or Italy? Even if it went ahead the show would be dead.

So (hopefully,) it will all be back to normal in 2022. But we thought that about this year…  

Jeremy Gay

Author of three fishkeeping books and lifelong fishkeeper. Experience includes editor of Practical Fishkeeping magazine, editor of Pet Product Marketing magazine, multi award- winning livestock manager and aquatic store manager.