BERLIN, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- At least 100 of the 390 planned trade fairs in Germany have already been postponed or canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry (AUMA) said on Wednesday.
The economic damage to the German trade fair industry already amounted to around 5 billion euros (5.6 billion U.S. dollars) this year, according to AUMA.
"COVID-19 regulations of the federal states, which are valid for four weeks or less, are no basis for business," said Joern Holtmeier, managing director of AUMA.
During the past two COVID-19 years, the country's trade show industry and associated sectors suffered total economic losses of more than 46 billion euros, according to AUMA. More than two in three planned trade shows were canceled in 2020 and 2021.
Before the pandemic, the country's trade show industry had contributed around 28 billion euros annually to the German economy, according to calculations by the German ifo Institute. (1 euro = 1.13 U.S. dollars) ■
