The 2020 EICMA show in Milan has officially been cancelled for this year with organisers confirming it will instead return in November 2021.
The event – regarded as the centrepiece of the international motorcycle show circuit – has been pending for several weeks amid ongoing concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.
Though strict lockdown measures around the world have begun to ease recently there remained concerns over whether an event of EICMA’s size could be adapted to work with the social distancing protocols required to go ahead.
However, in a press conference today, managing director Paolo Magri confirmed the decision has been taken to cancel it and focus on the 2021 event (9 – 14 November) after consultation with key industry figures.
“The value and international leadership of our exhibition-event have convinced us not to wager on the evolution of the health situation linked to the Covid-19 emergency and, above all, to listen to and protect the whole of the two-wheeler industry which, with Fiera Milano primarily and our partners, continues to see in EICMA a successful model and its most important opportunity for b2c and b2b at shows.”
“Responsibility has been imposed on us and makes us act on a wide scale in the interest of the exhibitors and our visitors, postponing the 2020 show with a solid convergence of intentions.”
Though the move will be considered a heavy blow for the industry as one of the foremost events for unveilings and business-to-business communications, it’s one that won’t come as a surprise.
Earlier this year both KTM and BMW confirmed it would not attend EICMA this year and instead focus its attentions on alternative methods for launching new machinery, while the news comes after the equivalent British and German events – Motorcycle Live and Intermot – have also been postponed until 2021.
