Concern about the impact of Covid-19 has led the organisers of Printing United Expo, one of the world’s biggest exhibitions for decorators, to cancel this year’s event.
Due to take place in Orlando in Florida from 6 to 8 October 2021, it is now next scheduled for October 2022 in Las Vegas.
Last year’s exhibition in Atlanta was moved to online only as a “virtual experience” because of Covid-19 restrictions but it was too late to make the switch for the 2021 show.
The expo, which covers all parts of the print industry, is organised by Printing United Alliance, the trade association for the industrial, graphic, garment, textile, electronics, packaging and commercial printing sector in North America.
In a statement, the organisers said: “The growing uncertainties and spike in cases resulting from the Covid-19 Delta variant and its depressing effect on registration and exhibitor participation has created a set of conditions that do not give us a reasonable chance to deliver an even marginally successful trade-show event of a certain magnitude where the showcasing of equipment is the primary driver.
“We conferred with dozens of exhibitors, regularly monitored attendee sentiment, and the weight of opinion supported the cancellation of this year’s show.
“All efforts are being put into Printing United Expo 2022 being held October 19 to 21, 2022 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“We remain committed to supporting the industry in the interim with all necessary resources available through Printing United Alliance subject matter experts, economic reports and trends analysis.”
Exhibitors were due to include B-Flex, HP, M&R Printing Equipment, Epson, Graphics One, Graphtec, Kornit Digital, Melco International, Next Level Apparel, RapidTag, Ricoh, Siser, TheMagicTouch and Zünd. Sponsors include Mimaki, Roland DGA and M&R.
