The outbreak of Covid-19 continues to turn the annual calendar of international trade fairs upside down. The organizers of the Cosmoprof show in Bologna, Italy, have just announced a new postponement of the event, which will finally take place from September 3 to 7, 2020.
"Since the beginning of the emergency linked to the outbreak of Coronavirus in Italy on 23 February, we have been constantly monitoring the situation, with the aim of identifying the best solutions to support the cosmetic industry,” said Gianpiero Calzolari, President of BolognaFiere. “The restrictions affecting our country and the limitations on international travels announced by other nations do not currently create the necessary preconditions for the business and networking activities at the basis of a global event such as Cosmoprof. The decision to further postpone the show in September, also based on evident prudential reasons related to the health emergency, is the result of a responsible dialogue with associations and institutions, with the common goal of creating the best scenario for the relaunch of the sector."
WHO labels coronavirus as ‘pandemic’
The World Health Organization called the new coronavirus outbreak a pandemic on Wednesday. The number of cases across the globe has risen to more than 124,000 with 4,500 deaths, including a jump in fatalities in Iran and Italy in particular, according to an AFP tally.
Signs of a widening European crisis emerged Wednesday, with Ireland, Albania, Belgium, Sweden and Bulgaria registering their first deaths, while Italy clocked more than 2,300 new cases in the last 24 hours and infections in Spain jumped by a quarter to more than 2,100. Cuba, Brunei, Honduras, Bolivia, Ivory Coast and Turkey have announced the diagnosis of the first cases on their territory.
The United States saw the first signs of an emergency footing with the New York government forming a containment zone around the suburb of New Rochelle at the centre of an outbreak. At the same time, President Donald Trump announced that he will close its borders for 30 days to travellers from most European countries.
“Cosmoprof is an international event, which every year attracts over 265,000 operators from 150 countries to Bologna. The actual restrictions are limiting the presence in Italy of buyers, distributors and retailers from the main markets in Europe, Asia and America for the next few months, thus draining the lifeblood of our event as well,” explained Enrico Zannini, General Manager of BolognaFiere Cosmoprof SpA.
Wall Street stocks dove deeper into the red in afternoon trading Wednesday. More generally, disruption to supply chains from China, flagging demand and wildly fluctuating stock markets have sparked a series of profit warnings from companies.
Yesterday, the organizers of the Esxence show in Milan also announced a second postponement of the event.
