For the second year in succession, the giant German Boat Show boot Düsseldorf has been forced to cancel due to mounting Covid-19 infections and new regulations announced by the German government, according to media reports.
The trade fair management company stuck it out to run boot until the very end - despite numerous exhibitor cancellations - but it appears now the government has provided clarity.
News of the 2022 cancellation first broke internationally on IBI, the UK-based boating industry website on Wednesday evening (December 30th) even though there is still no official confirmation from boot Düsseldorf's website at 8 am on Thursday morning. The website continues to show the 53rd International Boat Show as scheduled to run from January 22 until January 30th.
While the reports may be of no surprise to many as the pandemic deepens, the closure comes after a month of international trade rumours over the viability of staging the world's biggest indoor boat show.
German website Yacht said in an article on Wednesday "The decisions taken at the federal-state conference before Christmas to contain the Omicron variant and the implementation of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in its Corona ordinance make an international trade fair like boot impossible. As the state government just announced, boot will again not take place in January 2022"
Doubts were initially expressed in the autumn then again in early December when the Omicron variant forced several key manufacturers to pull out, one of the first being Danish manufacturer X-Yachts.
Exhibition organisers, however, were insisting the show would go ahead as late as the Christmas Break with Messe Düsseldorf CEO Wolfram Diener saying: "We have a responsibility towards our exhibitors". The German Transport Minister was announced as the VIP to open the show as late as December 20th.
With almost 250,000 visitors, boot Düsseldorf is the world's largest boat and water sports fair and every year in January the “meeting place" for the entire industry. Around 2,000 exhibitors present their interesting new products, attractive further developments and maritime equipment.
boot Düsseldorf has become popular with Irish boating fans in recent years due to Brexit, the convenience of direct flights from Ireland plus the demise of the much loved London boat show.
