Visitors to next year’s Italian EIMA International must wear a face mask. Infrared cameras will check the body temperature of everyone passing through the turnstiles, and entry and exit routes to all stands will be clearly marked.
These are just three of the safety measures announced by FederUnacoma (Italian federation of agricultural machinery manufacturers), the organiser of the Italian event, which will be the first ‘live’ international farm machinery exhibition following the Covid 19 emergency.
Other safety measures at the Bologna exhibition complex include the use of heat map technology to identify areas with the highest number of crowds on the showground and inside the halls. Monitored from a central control room, FederUnacoma says this will ‘enable timely interventions to restore the safety distancing.’
An operational task force in service throughout the exhibition centre will also contribute to ‘avoid any gatherings’, although we still do not know what this will mean. Maximum number of visitors per hall or per stand? They will have a tough job because 317,000+ visitors attended the last show in 2018!
Dedicated taxi and bus parking areas will be set up and sanitised shuttles will connect the exhibition to Bologna railway station and airport. Enhanced cleaning measures are planned, including the continuous sanitation of the toilets and sanitising gel dispensers will be positioned throughout the exhibition centre.
The good news is that the ventilation system inside the halls will be improved, but getting something to eat could be fun. Food can only be ordered from the refreshment kiosks through an online booking service for collection at a designated time.
Still interested in going. EIMA International is planned to take place from February 3-7, 2021. For these five days, the Bologna exhibition centre will be home to nearly 2,000 exhibitors from 50 countries, and more than 50,000 machines.
Ahead of the event, around 2,000 companies will participate in a virtual EIMA digital preview in November (11-15), the dates that Italian show was originally planned to take place. The virtual show is described as a bridge towards the real event in 2021.
