See you in Abu Dhabi!

Will the Abu Dhabi Yacht Show grow into the household name that the Informa Yacht Group hopes for? With the Abu Dhabi tourism authority as its headline sponsor, the future looks bright. Chairman Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan states that “Abu Dhabi is determined to grow its marine and yachting industries as a key component of a wider tourism strategy”, the ambition being that the emirate state will be the luxury yacht epicenter in the Middle East.

In fact, Informa has decided to do away with the dregs altogether, exclusively focusing on super- and megayachts. Sure, why not? Especially considering the success of the inaugural show, back in March last year. “By general consensus, we provided brand new, first-class business opportunities in a vastly wealthy and largely unexploited market. Some exceptional sales were made, at a time when business in the rest of the world was largely depressed, and that gave a massive uplift to the region’s industry,” said Franck Dailles, Group Director of IYG. It should be noted that yesteryear’s show saw sales of vessels in excess of $100 million.

Informa is not the only player that have plans for Abu Dhabi. The state itself has a strategic plan dealing with the marine development. By 2030, 45 different marinas are supposed to be built, with upwards of 10,000 different recreational craft in the country. Al Nahyan states that with Abu Dhabi’s 400 km of coastline and some-200 islands, developing the tourism sector with focus on the marine life is only natural. “We will leverage these assets while at the same time conserving them, for the benefit of this generation and for those to come”.

Who knows what the future holds, but Informa sure has wind in their sails. An impressive exhibitors list is up, and we’ll go ahead and treat you to a slice of despotism: Don’t miss out on the Torpedo from JamesList buddies J Craft, who will be represented at the show. The Abu Dhabi Yacht Show takes place between 25-27 February at the Yas Marina.

Click here to read more at the event’s official website.
Click here for a video from last year’s event.

Tags: abu dhabi, abu dhabi yacht show, informa yacht group, J Craft, Trinity Yachts

This entry was posted on Monday, January 25th, 2010 at 12:53 pm and is filed under Marine, Sundry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.