STUTTGART, Germany - Organizers of the International Trade Fair for Refrigeration, Air Conditioning, Ventilation (IKK) have cancelled plans to hold its expo this October in Stuttgart, Germany, clearing the way for the first ever Chillventa exposition planned for Oct. 15-17 in Nuremberg, to be the only major HVACR trade show to take place this fall in Germany.

An official announcement from Messe Stuttgart, planned site of the expo, said, “IKK will not take place in 2008 in Stuttgart as a result of a discussion between the VDKF (German Association of Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Contractors) and Messe Stuttgart. The VDKF and Messe Stuttgart realized that the existing result did not do justice to the standard of the brand name IKK and that of the Stuttgart Trade Fair Centre as a high-tech location and, therefore, withdrew from the competition.”

The “existing result” was a reference to anticipated participation of exhibitors and potential attendance. The statement said “the trade fair would be underachieving.”

Unless IKK is revived in the future, the announcement signals the end of 27 years of IKK expos that had been yearly events until 2006 when it was announced that it would go to an every other year format, relocating from Nuremburg to Stuttgart. However, 2006 was also the year in which a number of manufacturers, with major presences in Europe, announced plans to develop their own every other year expo - Chillventa - and focus on that event rather than IKK.

The split resulted from a contentious relationship between the manufacturers and VDKF over such issues as the event taking place every year, the city where the event would be held, and exhibiting costs.

Publication date: 05/26/2008