Broker Savills has joined a growing list of agents to announce its withdrawal from the Expo Real trade fair in Munich, citing concerns about the risk of coronavirus.
‘As a business that puts employees’ and clients' wellbeing first and foremost, Savills considers health and safety to be of absolute priority,’ Savills said in a statement. ‘Given the ongoing global pandemic Covid-19, together with the fact that Expo Real involves many thousands of people travelling from multiple countries across the world, the firm considers that it would not be appropriate to attend an event of this size.’
James Sparrow, CEO of Savills UK & EMEA, says the decision was hard to make. ‘Due to the scale and size of this conference, and the importance of the event to our industry, this decision has not been taken lightly but our absolute priority is the welfare of our staff as well as avoiding any service disruption to our clients in light of the ongoing situation with this global pandemic. Our thoughts at this time are with those affected around the world.’
Earlier this week brokers CBRE, C&W, JLL and Avison Young all pulled out of this year’s event. Colliers is in the process of reviewing whether the firm is to attend the event. Other exhibitors including The Holland Metropole group have also pulled out.
Last week, the Bavarian state government announced that it would allow trade fairs to take place in the German region from 1 September, hence giving the green light to the Expo Real event which is scheduled to run from 5 to 7 October.
Nevertheless, organisers still require a critical mass of exhibitors in order to run it and a decision on whether the show goes ahead is expected over the next few weeks.
Last year, the international property trade show attracted more than 46,000 visitors from 76 countries. Messe München, Expo Real’s organizer, has been working on a new concept aimed at minimising infection and making its events safer for all attendees.
