Behind the scenes boot Dusseldorf 2013

The International Boat Show in Düsseldorf took place in January and confirmed its status as the largest indoor yachting and water sports exhibition. We decided not to be sprayed with numbers and statistics. boot Dusseldorf 2013, but simply tell you what is happening behind the scenes of the boat show, collecting interesting stories and facts that are not visible to the visitor, as well as expert opinions on the exhibition and trends in the sailing yacht market.

From statistics, we will give only one figure: according to a reputable water industry service IBI Plus, The "viewership" of the boat show this year was 226,300 visitors, which is a whopping 8 % less than last year. However, in our opinion and the opinions of many colleagues, the qualitative composition of visitors was much higher than in previous years. Snowfalls and icing in northwestern Germany, as well as strikes by workers at the Düsseldorf and Cologne airports, were among the reasons for the drop in attendance.

“If the end consumer came to us this year, despite the weather and strikes, then he is really interested in the products and services presented by the exhibitors. According to our surveys, the expectations of about 96 % visitors were fully met! ", comments on the figures "chief director" boot Dusseldorf - its director Goetz Ulf Jungmichel.

boot Dusseldorf the only European indoor boat show that, despite the negative trends in the industry, continues to develop, attracting new visitors and participants. Many of our German friends and colleagues even stopped participating in other exhibitions held in Germany - hanseboot and Interboot.

“We believe that boot Dusseldorf, like the boat shows on the water in Cannes and La Rochelle, are by far the most significant events in the European yachting industry. This is the only boat show in Germany that we are really interested in. ", confessed to me Rolf Kohlhas, German dealer Fountaine pajot.

It is very pleasant to observe the work of European dealers and to hear professional questions that customers ask them. Women are equal to men! At one of the stands, two elderly Dutch women in an hour and a half clarified all the technical details and signed a preliminary contract for the purchase of a 44-foot monohull!

It was only on the last day of our stay in Düsseldorf that I managed to talk to the boot director and interview him for a short (see interview box). During the exhibition itself, we constantly crossed paths at press conferences, festive events, parties. Mr. Jungmichel was everywhere - smiling and ready to chat!

On the first Sunday of the exhibition, he was the guest of honor at a party in honor of the fortieth anniversary of the German segeln. About 200 guests gathered at the magazine's stand. After short congratulatory speeches from the editor-in-chief segeln Thorsten Hoege and Mr Jungmichel all began to eat curry sausages with the excellent Flensburg beer! In such a relaxed atmosphere of communication and fun, a cauldron with more than 600 sausages and a couple of dozen boxes of a drunken drink was emptied. For dessert there was a cake presented by the management boot Dusseldorf German magazine.

Actually, this year we really missed our Dutch friend Vibe. We met him in Dusseldorf in 2010, when he was representing the shipyard Alliaura Marine... In addition to being an excellent yachting expert who never turned down advice, Vibe was also our guide to the exhibitors' parties at their booths. It seemed that he had an unofficial schedule for every day: time, date, pavilion and stand number for each unofficial event after the exhibition closed at 18-00.

One of the most interesting is the party at the engine manufacturer's booth. Volvo-Penta, which is called "sprat party" (Sprottparty)! Here, in a relaxed atmosphere, over a bottle of the same Flensburg and delicious sprats, you can chat with colleagues, learning from them the latest news and trends.

At the equator exhibition on Wednesday, there is a general party for exhibitors - Messe Party, which gathers over 5000 people. We missed it this year. Firstly, due to constant meetings and events, we simply fell off our feet, and secondly, from the experience of attending the main party of the exhibition in previous years, we realized that there was no one to draw out useful information - everyone relaxed, gorged themselves on the delicacies of various cuisines of the world and listen to concerts of all kinds of bands. They deserve it!

My main location was pavilions 15, 16 and 17, where sailing yachts were exhibited. In addition to them, I also from time to time looked into the pavilions, in which charter companies, marinas, tourist regions, as well as equipment and accessories were presented. There was neither strength nor time for the rest ...

As always, huge stands were at Bavaria, Jeanneau, Hanse-Group, many of whose visitors were ordinary onlookers. Stands in pavilion 15 stood out Fountaine pajot and Lagoonrepresenting catamarans - Helia 44 and Lagoon 39 respectively. Rolf Kolhaas' team spent time at the stand almost without rest from morning to evening. From 900 to 1000, the stand and the catamaran itself were carefully cleaned. And from 1000 to 1800 the "show" for visitors lasted. Sometimes there was a queue of 30 people wishing to get on board the catamaran! Shipyard owner monsieur Jean-Francois Fontaine presented the new flagship catamaran of the shipyard Victoria 57, an overview of which we will present to you in the next issue.

The stand of the company stood out in pavilion 16 Blue yachting a German yacht dealer from Bremen. The cheerful and well-coordinated team, led by Ulrich and Nils Schürg, worked so enthusiastically and clearly that more than 200 visitors received all the necessary advice on the presented yachts every day. On the last weekend, they even had to call for reinforcements to the team. The uniqueness of the stand was also in the fact that the Shyurgis, thanks to their instinct, assembled yachts, 5 (!) Of which won the nomination European Yacht of the Year.

The meetings with the directors of the shipyards - the legendary Danish X-Yachts and updated French Privilege Marine... Chef "X" Hans Wygard turned out to be a very charming and interesting person, a passionate yachtsman who invited us to the shipyard in Haderslev to conduct a test of the flagship 50-foot, as well as to take part in X-Yachts Gold Cup 2013, which will be held from 17 to 20 July 2013 in Copenhagen. I hope that nothing will interfere with our team. Gilles Wagner, the new head of Privilege Marine, spoke about the renovation of the shipyard and the new development path of Privilege catamarans and the Feeling monohull line (Feeling test 44).

Both CEOs graciously agreed to answer my questions, expressing their views on the expectations of the European yachting market, the plans of the shipyards for the next boat show in Dusseldorf and the attitude of their companies towards the show (see interview boxes).

In Pavilion 14, everyone was attracted by the stand of the Association of Water Stations of Spain Estaciones Nauticas... Her sweet coordinator Nieves Garrido presented us with a project that brings together 22 water destinations and 916 tourist products throughout Spain (yacht charter, various types of fishing, fishing and cooking oysters, etc.). Each of the destinations (water stations) is an amalgamation of many companies in the region, which together provide travel services and strive to improve the recreation of clients.

The Italian Marinas Association actively promoted its marinas and ports.

At the stand DHH - the German yachtsmen's union, uniting three schools that teach yachting, we met our old friend Wolfgang Valentine, director of the yachting school in Glucksburg. The activities of DHH schools are primarily designed to meet the needs of the German members of the organization for quality yachting training. Very informative, clear, practical and fun. I advise everyone who speaks English or German to visit one of the DHH schools' courses, a list of which can be found on the organization's website: dhh.de

Spokesperson for the Kiel week Hermann Hel at a press conference on the event, said: “The Kiel Week has been going side by side with boot Dusseldorf for decades and starts right here in January!”. Hermann gladly helped us with material for an article about Kiel week 2013. This is an event that must be seen with your own eyes!

- Mr. Jungmichel, are you satisfied with the results of boot 2013?

Yes, we managed to achieve everything that we could influence as organizers of the boat show. boot Dusseldorf, even in difficult economic times, proved to be quite capable. We managed to strengthen and expand our positions: companies operating in the European market are fully and completely focusing their activities and attention on our boat show. And finally, we were able to successfully run a new advertising campaign and offer our guests a new entertainment program.

Compared to last year's boat show, we have to admit that this year we received 20,000 fewer visitors. The reason for this is unfavorable weather conditions and strikes at the airports of Dusseldorf and Cologne. Many foreign guests had to cancel their planned visit. Nevertheless, we met the expectations of our exhibitors. A record number of guests attended the boat show opening and weekend of the second week, a good signal that the industry is improving.

- The boot 2013 program included many recreational activities for visitors. Are you going to offer something new and exciting next year?

We are currently developing a new concept and ideas for the 2014 exhibition. We remain true to our motto “Experience 360 ° Watersports”. And in the future, boot Dusseldorf will offer its visitors new types of entertainment, such as windsurfing in Pavilion 1. This pavilion will acquire a new look, making you seem to be on the coast of a warm sea. As I said, now we are only at the planning stage, and therefore not everything has been decided yet. We will report on the most important events and features of the program ahead of boot 2014.

- How do you think the European yacht market will develop until the next boot Dusseldorf?

We are looking at 2013 with restrained optimism. Our boat show gave a good impetus to the development of the entire industry, however, it is too early to talk about a complete recovery from the crisis on an international scale. The European debt crisis has particularly affected Mediterranean countries. The drop in sales in countries such as Italy and Portugal is difficult to compensate, however, it is necessary to work more actively in the new markets of Asia and Eastern Europe. In such difficult conditions, much depends on the innovative capabilities of the industry. Highly innovative companies in this case will have significant competitive advantages.

- What do you expect from the CIS markets and visitors from these countries in the future?

Guests from Russia and Ukraine are undoubtedly an important target group for boot Dusseldorf and its exhibitors, especially in the segment of high quality boats, yachts and equipment. We are very pleased that we were able to attract the attention of such demanding and competent clients and position our boat show in these countries as the best industry trading platform in Europe.

In the future, we will make more efforts to promote our boat show in the CIS markets through local companies and make our offers and services more transparent and understandable. Hopefully these events will help attract even more guests and exhibitors from Russia and Ukraine in 2014.

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As with the entire yachting industry, 2013 will present many challenges and puzzles for our shipyard. Due to the financial collapse in southern Europe, these markets have been almost completely calm over the past three years. At the same time, the general financial crisis in Europe affected the sale of our yachts in the rest of the continent.

As Europe is the largest sailing boat market, we have to fight for every customer. However, as for X-Yachts, we managed to expand our distribution and sales channels outside Europe (USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong). In general, this means that our sales figures in 2013 are only slightly lower than in 2012.

At the same time, we will pay special attention to the development of new markets, which will become very important in the future. In addition to the Asian and North American markets, we expect the CIS markets to be able to drive sales growth. We already have experience in selling Xp yachts to Russian buyers. And we feel that we have a huge potential for development in these markets. The Boat Show in Dusseldorf has become one of the most important yachting exhibitions in the world.

Once the boat show in Dusseldorf was attended mainly by the Germans and the Dutch, but now it has managed to reach the international level. At the same time, other indoor boat shows have become smaller, making boot Dusseldorf even more attractive. The main reason why our shipyard pays special attention to this exhibition is its international appeal.

We expect the European sailing yacht market to stabilize in 2014. This is particularly the case for exclusive yachts such as X-Yachts, as this market segment is showing a stagnation rather than declining trend. On the other hand, the markets in Southern Europe will not stabilize soon, so we hope that our sales in Eastern and Northern Europe will increase as early as next year.

We are launching our new Xp 55 this summer. We will also be working on enhancements to the Xp and Xc series models throughout Fall 2013 and 2014. By the end of May, we will already be able to demonstrate the first results.

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This is our first boot Dusseldorf as a refurbished shipyard. Privilege Marine Is a new company with two first-class and well-known brands, Privilege and Feeling. The boat show in Dusseldorf turned out to be very interesting as we met many owners of Privilege catamarans and it is very important for us to show that we are back with a new team, strategy and projects. At this boat show we were able to expand our contact base, however, it is very difficult to attract new customers without having a yacht at the stand.

Our shipyard has made the decision to remain a niche custom yacht manufacturer. Each customer is unique and always pays great attention to the high quality of the equipment used, decoration, interior.

Today we offer, for example, an improved model Privilege 515 - Privilege 5 series. In the development of the new cockpit, we collaborated with the architects office of Marc Lombard and the design office of Frank Darnet and took into account all the wishes of the customers and the opinions of the owners. New cockpit, new interior design, new square mainsail rig!

If we talk about the ruler Feelingthen you are the first to know that we will cooperate with Alessandro Di Benedetto to improve Feeling 32 and Feeling 39. We will not make a revolution, but in terms of design, ergonomics and equipment we can improve our yachts, and Alessandro will be our best advisor.

Privilege Marine is in a niche market offering comfortable, safe, improved and powerful yachts that are ideal for CIS customers. Russian-speaking customers like the products "Made in France", luxury and sophistication are important to them ... Prestigious yachts are simply made for them!

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The next performance of the "performance" called boot Dusseldorf will be held on the "stage" of the exhibition complex Messe Dusseldorf from 18 to 26 January 2014.

PS On the first day of the exhibition, I had a little embarrassment. Before the entrance to pavilion 15, a short man who looked like a Frenchman approached me and asked for fire in broken English (or rather with gestures!). After that, we exchanged a few phrases about the cold German weather. As I was later told, it was Loic Peyron, Jules Verne Prize Winner, specially arrived in Düsseldorf to receive the Prize Seamaster 2013... Didn't recognize the legend ...

Text: Alexander Salanin

20.01.2013