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Swiss watch giant Swatch Group has announced that it will not be returning to the watch and jewellery trade show BaselWorld in 2019.
The announcement was made in an interview with its CEO Nick Hayek published in Swiss newspaper NZZamSonntag, that the group which owns brands such as Omega, Tissot and Longines will not be present at the show in 2019.
Hayek said: “The MCH Group, which organises Baselworld, is clearly more concerned with optimising and amortising its new building – which, incidentally, is largely financed by the watch industry during the fairs – than it is in having the courage to make real progress and to bring about true and profound changes.
“Everything has become more transparent, faster-paced and more spontaneous. The traditional, annual watch fairs are therefore no longer useful for us.”
He continued: “Accordingly, a different rhythm and a different approach is needed. In this new context, annual watch fairs, as they exist today, no longer make much sense. This does not mean that they should disappear, but, it is necessary that they reinvent themselves, responding appropriately to the current situation and demonstrating more dynamism and creativity.”
