The 2021 show, which had originally been postponed to October, is the latest event to become a casualty of the ongoing problems facing international travel.

Distoy organiser David Potter has confirmed to Toy World that the show will not go ahead as planned in October, explaining the rationale behind the decision:

“There continues to be abundant evidence that Covid-19 is still an existential threat across the world; in many areas infection rates are still increasing and there is the continual threat of new variants appearing,” he explained. “As a result many companies have banned international travel until 2022 by which time they (and we) hope that some kind of normality will have returned. Distoy without international travel simply won’t work.”

David added: “Accordingly, with heavy heart we must let everybody know that in these circumstances an October 2021 show is not viable. This is a bitterly disappointing state of affairs and we really wish we could offer a more optimistic picture.

The international toy community has always been so supportive, and we are extremely grateful for that support. We sincerely hope you’ll join us in an effort to make Distoy 2022 happen and help us to erase the unpleasant memory of not one, but two postponements.

We will announce the 2022 dates as soon as they are set – but the aim is to go back to the usual May / June period.

It’s a sad state of affairs, but in all honesty we really had no alternative. Exhibitors and potential exhibitors are simply not prepared to allocate funds to an event that depends entirely on international travel being free from any sort of restriction. Even in areas where travel may have been permitted, people are just not prepared to take the risk. We really thought we might be able to defy the odds but unfortunately, reality finally kicked in.”