Monaco Yacht Show organisers reflect on new focus

alt="Monaco Yacht Show organisers reflect on new focus"/>

Monaco Yacht Show organisers announced that this year’s new-look edition featured 19,000 visitors, a significant drop from over 31,000 in the previous edition two years ago. The four-day show in late September featured 101 yachts in the water compared to 125 in the 2019 edition, then described as the biggest since the show was founded in 1991.

Yachts ranged from Bluegame’s new BG72 up to the 108m (354ft) Benetti IJE, while new features included invitation-only Wednesday, visitor badge categories, a sailing yacht section and the Yacht Design & Innovation Hub.

Travel constraints and health regulations were among factors cited for the drop in attendance on Monaco’s quaysides. However, organisers said they had expected a reduced turnout this year as the “objective was to decrease the number of visitors, while focusing on specific profiles and facilitating connections between exhibitors and their targeted clientele”.

As well as effectively targeting more serious buyers, the remit was to attract potential future yacht buyers with the wealth but without previous exposure to yachting.

Theo Hooning, Secretary General of SYBAss (Superyacht Builders Association), said: “This was the first opportunity to see the results of a change in approach to the show, by placing the focus firmly on the customers of the industry rather than the business activities within it. The result was a more relaxed atmosphere. With no overcrowding of the quays, the experience for those customers was much more in line with the superyacht experience itself.”

The changes to the show followed feedback from exhibitors that began ahead of the cancellation of last year’s edition, with show organiser Informa creating an advisory Steering Committee made up of decision-makers from the yachting industry.

On the day before the show, the fifth edition of the Monaco Yacht Summit featured about 60 owners, charterers and future buyers or their representatives. Participants had the opportunity to talk with speakers, designers, brokers and builders about yacht construction, chartering or purchasing projects.

The show started with an invitation-only opening day on the Wednesday that included 300 guests invited by the organisers. Targets included yacht owners and future yacht buyers and charterers, who had a more exclusive experience and easier access to the Dockside Area, where they were able to see yachts and tenders, and meet designers, brokers and shipyards.

Among other novelties, the Yacht Design & Innovation Hub was created to offer visitors an understanding of a custom yacht’s construction process. It also offered a look into the future of superyacht design with lectures by designers Espen Øino, Winch Design, Sam Sorgiovanni, Sinot Yacht Architecture and Design, and Luiz De Basto Designs.

The figure of 101 yachts was up on the organisers’ initial expectations of up to 90 yachts, while the eventual total of 440 exhibitors was also up on the earlier prediction of 300.

After IJE (2019), the 95m Lürssen Kismet (2014), new 94m Feadship Viva (2021) and 92m Nobiskrug Tatoosh (2000) were the next longest yachts on the display. The Nobiskrug Artefact and Bilgin Tatiana, both 80m, were also among 14 superyachts over 70m.

The new 65m Zazou was among five Benettis on show, Damen Yachting premiered its 55m Time Off, while there were four builds by its sister brand Amels.

Azimut superyachts included its new 38m flagship Grande Trideck, Ferretti Group’s four-strong display featured the second Pershing 140, while seven Sunseeker builds include the yard’s new 90 Ocean, among five yachts exhibited by Sunseeker Monaco.

Burgess, Camper & Nicholsons, Fraser and Northrop & Johnson were among leading global brokerage houses, who represented almost 60 per cent of yachts on display. The new sailing area featured a dozen yachts, ranging from a Sunreef 80 sailing catamaran (Double Happiness) to the 54.3m Shenandoah of Sark built in 1902 and exhibited by Fraser, while the Swan 120 was among world premieres.

Although numbers were down, the total worth of superyachts on display in Port Hercule was estimated at an impressive €3.6 billion, close to the €4 billion cited in 2019.

Gaëlle Tallarida, General Director of the Monaco Yacht Show, said: “We worked alongside stakeholders from across the industry to put on a show that meets their expectations and, more specifically, those of their clientele.

“The 2021 MYS appears to have benefited from the excitement spurred by this reunion, as well as from the favourable state of the market, with an increase in yacht sales over the last 18 months. Clients have turned to yachting to escape the gloomy context that the pandemic has brought about and the frustration of having their freedom restricted.

“Therefore, 2021 has been a win-win for everyone involved in yachting. Thanks to the Steering Committee founded this year, we intend to pursue our collaboration to further improve the MYS for the 2022 edition.”

The next edition of the Monaco Yacht Show has been scheduled for September 28-October 1, 2022.