Today, the organizer of Baselworld, the MCH Group company issued a press release. He reports that the fair is cancelled this year, will not take place and the next.In a press release MCH Group, sent today to journalists that in the past decades, coverage of the Baselworld fair, there is, as expected, good news and bad news. The good is that the organizers were able to negotiate with the major parties on compensation for cancelled this year’s exhibition.Recall that participants failed fair 2020, the year it was proposed two options compensation paid contributions. The first assumed that 85% of the fee will go to the expense of paying for future Baselworld. Well, 15% would remain in the accounts of MCH Group to cover already incurred costs. In the same case, if the participants still want to get the money back, they were offered compensation in the amount of 30%, but some 40% still goes to pay salon next year, and the non-refundable proportion of the MCH Group would have amounted to 30%.It does not say a word about the possibility of his transfer to 2022.Clearly, this changes the situation with the reimbursement of expenses already incurred. The participants demanded that the advance payment (amounting to a total of 20 million Swiss francs) was repaid in full, and not turned into coupons for the event may not take place. The final abolition of the cabin is allowed to move to the new stage of negotiations. As you can tell from the press release, they led to an agreement.This was confirmed by the Chairman of the Committee of the Swiss participants Baselworld Hubert de Plessis: “I welcome the constructive attitude of the representatives of the MCH Group, which allowed us to come to a balanced decision”. Then Mr de Plessis did not fail to praise the generosity of the participants (including myself as one of the Directors of omega): “I also thank the house of Patek Philippe, Rolex, Tudor, Chanel, Chopard, Hublot, Zenith and Tag Heuer, who, out of solidarity with all members of the industry agreed to reduce compensation to the other participants the best conditions”. The numbers are not specified, but according to insider information the return made up two-thirds of the advance.”We are pleased that together and in a short time found a solution acceptable to all… We made it to the limit for us, and now, after the friendly settlement Baselworld 2020, can fully concentrate on the future,” responds CEO of MCH Group, Bernd Stablizer. “We work intensively with exhibitors and visitors, to determine their wishes and capabilities of the new platforms,” says managing Director of Baselworld Michelle Loris of Melikoff. He promises: “We will decide on future formats for the summer”.But the future does not promise anything good Baselworld. Fair in any way passes a year. Meanwhile, its competitor, the Geneva salon SIHH, which was supposed to take place in advancedirandom format and under a new name Watches & Wonders, in advance, is celebrating victory. Until demoralized Basel arguing about compensation, Geneva not only held their exhibition this year online, but also promised to open next spring in an extremely reinforced structure: all the main participants of Baselworld, except that of the French from Chanel and Japanese brands like Seiko, have already decided to exhibit in Geneva.Four years ago in Basel took 1,5 thousand and 145 thousand visitors. And this is the second time in a row the largest and oldest watch fair in Switzerland and the world, in existence since 1917, and stayed not even during world war I, remains closed. On the eve of the victory day of its capitulation, it seems, signed.Alexey Tarkhanov, Paris
