“We are convinced that we will be able to hold the scheduled events in the second half of 2021 as planned and successfully,” says Beat Zwahlen, CEO of the MCH Group. “It is pleasing that major events will once again be possible without restrictions, subject to the Covid certificate or the mask requirement. This is a great relief for us as organisers and for our exhibitors and visitors. We can count on a great deal of support from the authorities and also note that confidence in the market and the willingness of exhibitors to participate in trade fairs and exhibitions are clearly increasing.”
This week, the Federal Council announced that as of 26 June 2021, large events can be held with unlimited numbers of people and no restrictions on capacity. If events with more than 1,000 people are restricted to people with Covid certification (vaccinated, recovered or tested negative), all that is needed is a protection concept with measures for hygiene and implementation of access restriction. The mask-wearing requirement now only applies to indoor events if access is also open to people without a certificate. At the same time, the Federal Council has also relaxed the requirements for entry into Switzerland. In parallel to these decisions at the federal level, the parliament of the Canton of Basel-Stadt has approved the so-called “protective umbrella”, according to which the federal government and the cantons will assume a large part of the costs incurred if a event has to be cancelled at short notice for epidemiological reasons.
The MCH Group’s first major events will be Art Basel in Basel (September 23–26) and the Digital Festival (September 23–26) with HackZurich (September 24–26) in Zurich. Ilmac and InMedCompac in Basel (both 19–21 October), SmartSuisse in Basel (27–28 October) as well as the educations fairs in Lausanne (16–21 November) and Zurich (23–27 November) will be further highlights. The MCH exhibition program in the second semester of 2021 will conclude with Art Basel in Miami Beach (30 November – 4 December). The MCH Group will now clarify for each individual event which protection concept – Covid certificate or protective mask – should be applied. It is working intensively on the solutions required to implement these access restrictions, including clarifying testing options in the context of an event with a Covid certificate.
“This is a great relief for us and our customers.”
Beat Zwahlen, CEO MCH Group
“We will now work with all our might to prepare for our events in fall 2021 and spring 2022,” emphasizes Beat Zwahlen. “We will do everything we can to provide our customers with efficient and effective platforms and thus contribute to their success.”
