METSTRADE 2023 Celebrates 35th Anniversary

METSTRADE is the world’s largest trade exhibition for equipment, materials, and systems for the international leisure marine industry. Celebrating its 35th Anniversary, METSTRADE which is organised by RAI Amsterdam in cooperation with ICOMIA (International Council of Marine Industry), this year reported record attendance. Visitors came from all sectors of the industry: yacht builders, naval architects, refit yards, distributors, dealers, wholesalers, captains, marina owners and marine equipment manufacturers worldwide.

With 1,540 exhibitors, 240 of them new to the show, from 53 countries across 11 halls at RAI Amsterdam, METSTRADE proved that it is as an essential anchor point and meeting place for all marine companies and professionals worldwide.

The three-day show was packed with meetings, networking, researching, and learning that consolidated the shows reputation as being an industry leader. Busy stands, features and corridors hosting 28,900 visits from 18,630 unique visitors, spanning 130 nationalities, confirmed that Metstrade is the show that all boating professionals should attend.

Key elements of this year’s show included the keynote speech by industry leader Massimo Perotti, the CEO of Sanlorenzo SpA, the DAME Awards, the Next Generation Propulsion Zone which focused attention on climate-friendly solutions, the new Foiling Technology Pavilion, the Young Professionals Club with its METSTRADE Career Zone, the Start-Up Pavilion, and the Women in the Marine Industry breakfast.

Speaking after the show closed METSTRADE Director, Niels Klarenbeek, stated: “It is an absolute privilege to have the heritage and strong bow wave of positive sentiment from 34 editions behind us, but we take nothing for granted. The marine industry is moving at an incredible pace to address the many opportunities and challenges set before it. We were pleased to play our part for this 35th anniversary edition by offering several well received new features targeted at sustainability, people, skills, inclusivity, and innovation.

“Our team is committed to ensure that METSTRADE facilitates the connections and business required for a successful year ahead,” said Klarenbeek.  “Without the underpinning creativity and enterprise of the supply chain, we have no marine industry. Our 2023 numbers are impressive, but they don’t tell the whole story. We are particularly grateful to have received so much positive feedback about the quality of the interactions between our audience and exhibitors over an extremely busy three days.”

ICOMIA’s CEO, Joe Lynch, commented: “When working day-to-day you can be oblivious to the scale, variety, pace of innovation and new developments happening across the leisure marine sector. There is so much passion and enthusiasm within our industry and to see it condensed in one place is very exciting. ICOMIA has been a partner of METSTRADE since its first edition; as the global association representing marine industry associations around the world this show also offers the welcome opportunity for our committees to meet and plan together.”

Speaking on the positive impact of METSTRADE on the new Foiling Technology Pavilion’s exhibitors, Luca Rizzotti, Founder of The Foiling Organization and We Are Foiling events confirmed the 2023 edition had been highly successful: “I had multiple comments suggesting that exhibitors had already booked enough work by the second day to cover 2024-25 and would now need to recruit new staff. The AC40 simulator attracted people to our area and the conference programme was always full – we expect the pavilion to grow and grow.”

Nearby it was a similar story for the 15 fledgling companies on the Start-Up Pavilion, as Gabbi Richardson, founder of Yachting Ventures explains: “We’ve had an incredible show with loads of traffic. People stopped to speak with one start-up, then ended up speaking to another and staying for an hour. All participants have been thrilled to be a part of such a positive initiative to encourage and promote new technologies and start-ups.”

That same kind of encouragement was available for younger individuals too, as James Ward, CEO and Founder of Marine Resources relates: “It’s been a brilliant three days in the Young Professionals Club & Career Zone. We’ve had great footfall coming through with real interest in the events here. The biggest takeaway is that there is a real community of young professionals at METSTRADE. They have an appetite to get together, benefit from careers development activity and enjoy networking opportunities. We’re excited by the positive feedback this year and look forward to working with young professionals at METSTRADE in the future.”

APSA’s presence at METSTRADE this year included APSA Committee members; Christophe Ceard (Vice Chairman), Bryan Tse (Honorary Treasurer) and Gordon Fernandes (General Committee).

Christophe (BSM Yachting GmbH) who has attended METSTRADE for the last 15 years said, “the event is definitely getting better every year, and I consider this to be one of the key events on the superyacht calendar.” Gordon (Asia Pacific Superyachts) commented, “that the show certainly proved to be popular with captains, crew and industry professionals as the halls were bustling from the start.  It’s great to see the show adding more and more exhibitors each year. I managed to catch up with a few captains who are planning round the world cruises, and it is great to see more owners and captains wanting to venture out to areas which aren’t as isolated as they once were.”

Duthie Lidgard, (Catalano Shipping, New Zealand) attended METS Trade Show for the first time since 2016. “Comparing the show to previous visits as an exhibitor and as a walker, I found the Superyacht Pavilion as one of my favourite areas. It was busy from open to close and a great showing from all suppliers. I came across many captains and engineers active in the industry. Ventured around all halls , the Dame awards and the new electric drive developments,  it is interesting how quickly things are being developed. Highly recommend pre-planning your full three days and get some comfortable walking shoes!

Other APSA members who were exhibiting or who were visiting the show included: Asia Pacific Superyachts, BSM Yachting GmbH, Catalano Shipping Services New Zealand, Dörries Yachts GmbH, Frigomar Srl, Global Yacht Services HK, Howden, Integrated Marine Group, Navim Group, SeedMarine, Sevenstar Yacht Transport, Sentient International, Travel Cue, 37 South, Superyacht Australia, Superyacht UK, US Superyacht Association, The Superyacht Foundation, SYBAss, Water Revolution Foundation, Asia Yacht Press, The World of Yachts and YachtNeeds.

METSTRADE 2024 will run from 19-21 November 2024 in RAI Amsterdam.