Is boating recovering? Is crisis behind us now? It’s certainly too early to say that but signals coming from both the market and trade associations start to be timidly positive and more stable. What is certain, however, is the incomparable success registered by METS, the international marine equipment trade show which has just finished in Amsterdam.
Why was the event so successful? Because it actually focuses on innovation. It’s interesting to visit since you can discover new products and meet all nautical experts, magically gathered in Amsterdam for three days. So, not only business but also meeting, discover, research.
It’s an ideal place for marketing and sales managers, engineers, designers, architects and journalists. It’s a rich program of meetings and events, enriched by the prestigious Dame Award.
This year, Mets registered 1471 exhibitors, 6610 operators, 11091 different companies and a 7.5 % increase of companies represented than last year. SuperYacht Pavilion hosted 265 exhibitors ( they were 224 in 2015) while stands in Marina & Yard Pavilion and Construction Material Pavilion were 64 and 45 respectively ( 49 and 31 last year).
23,702 visitors marked a 8% increase than 2015. In particular, on Wednesday, the RAI Amsterdam stand welcomed almost 10,000 visitors. Eleven pavilions were spread over an area 3000 square metres larger than the previous edition.
Over 64% of visitors came from abroad. The three most represented countries were Italy, France and Denmark, followed by Russia, Polony and Switzerland. 22 % of visitors were younger than 35, 10% more than 2015.
“ 2016 will be remembered as the year which pushed the event to a higher level – claimed Irene Dros, Maritime Metstrade Manager of Rai Amsterdam – the complementary program of conferences and events was greater than ever. Mets clearly attracts smart initiatives coming from all disciplines and fields within the world of boating. All activities are successful and they focus on the type of trade encounters for which RAI Amsterdam is famous”.
In the world, there is just one other event similar to Mets, Ibex, which takes place in Tampa, Florida, in September. And it was recently reported that Metstrade took a 50% share of it: another signal which show the significant success of the event.
