The status quo: Under the immigration control caused by COVID-19 of 93 countries, can Chinese companies still participate Interzoo?

The largest and most leading pet and aquarium trade show in the world will be held on May 19-22 this year. It is regarded as a must-attend show just like CIPS for Chinese exhibitors. Under the effect of the epidemic, many companies have their worries.

China International Pet Show (CIPS), as the exclusive group unit officially recognized for China, arranges the largest national pavilion at Interzoo. In addition to organizing country pavilion, CIPS will also organize delegation to visit outstanding manufacturers in Europe, to keep up with the development of the European pet industry, in order to draw on advanced experience that inspires the progress of Chinese pet companies.

Get into Germany, are we allowed to get in?

With the increasing number of diagnoses of COVID-19 in China, many countries around the world have imposed restrictions on entry and exit, with flights from 22 countries temporarily suspended or cancelled. Germany has not taken any compulsory measures to ban Chinese tourists from entering the country for the time being. However, passengers will be subjected to temperature detection and epidemic screening at the port of entry.

In order to investigate the actual situation of Chinese exhibitors participating in German trade shows during the tight period and communicate with the Interzoo organizer on the China Pavilion's participation, CIPS team members have come to Frankfurt and Nuremberg on Feb 10 to inspect several international shows that were currently held.

Situation at the show

From entering the country, then to the hotel and the exhibition hall, no mask-wearing crowds were found, and the phenomenon of avoiding Chinese people wasn't seen. When communicating with exhibitors from different countries, they have expressed their encouragement for the epidemic in China. 70% of Chinese exhibitors came to Germany from China, and for those whom didn't attend the show directly, were represented by their representatives in Europe. The visiting from buyers was also endless.

Therefore, based on the on-site inspections and two months of epidemic control time, CIPS believes that with the efforts of everyone, the haze of the epidemic will eventually dissipate. We are confident that the epidemic will be contained before the arrival of May, and Chinese exhibitors will be able to participate Interzoo smoothly.

Exhibitors’ worry: Should we participate Interzoo or not?

Many companies have various concerns about Interzoo, wondering if they should participate, and why they should not?

From the feedback of various enterprises, the concerns are mainly divided into the following categories:

1. Worries about exhibition visitor flow rate: Chinese exhibitors are mostly worried about the significant reduction in visitors that walk the Chinese pavilion.

2. Concerns about the production: Chinese exhibitors worry about the products delivery time will be affected by all the restrictions, and in the meanwhile they worry about the survival of their company.

3. Concerns about the change of policy: The country's policies on living bodies are becoming more and more rigorous, which will have a fatal blow to many pet food companies.

4. Concerns about security issues: Gathering people for catering during the show may pose a hidden danger of infection

First of all, in response to the concerns of some enterprises on safety, CIPS will try to adjust the participating groups to boutique groups or smaller groups to reduce the risk of cross infection as much as possible. It is most important to look out for the health of the exhibitors.

Secondly, regard to the flow of visitors to the Chinese Pavilion during recent visit, it can be predicted that the visitors to Chinese pavilion at Interzoo would stay as usual.

Finally, as an enterprise, it is clear that customer demand will not be affected by the epidemic situation, and the epidemic situation will eventually go away. After the epidemic situation, an order blowout period is bound to occur. Ninety percent of European products originate from China. If they don't take this chance of participating the most leading show that holds every two years, they may face a large number of customer losses, and will most likely be affected in the next two years or even longer.

The epidemic will always pass, and the end of warm spring is coming. What enterprises have to think about is that after it all passes, will you be able to rise against the situation? Because as we know the industry will be reshuffled by then.