After a very difficult economic year in 2009, the yachting and water sports industry is looking ahead to the future with confidence. Some 240,200 water sports enthusiasts from over 60 different countries showed cause for optimism at boot Düsseldorf 2010, which ended on Sunday 31st of January, as well as generating good business in many segments of the range on offer at the fair, a slight increase on last year, which saw 238,000 visitors pass through the doors of the exhibition centre in Düsseldorf. Over the nine days of the fair a total of 1,568 exhibitors from 55 countries presented boat debuts, new items of water sports equipment and accessories in 17 exhibition halls.
“We achieved our targets to the full! Not only did we succeed in giving the industry an important boost, we were also able to interest more young people and families in water sports and the leading fair in the industry, boot in Düsseldorf,” said Werner Matthias Dornscheidt, Chairman and CEO of Messe Düsseldorf. “The concept, which aimed to place greater emphasis on hands-on events where people could get involved and experience water sports for themselves in the halls at the fair, was a resounding success. It was just a pity that the extreme winter conditions prevented some potential visitors from attending boot. Following the healthy rise in the number of visitors in the first few days the numbers ebbed, ending up with only a slight increase on last year by the end of the fair.”
Jürgen Tracht, Managing Director of the German Marine Federation (BVWW) based in Cologne, was also very positive about this year’s fair. “boot encouraged the entire industry. The bottom of the curve had been reached. The visitors at the stands were eager to buy, very knowledgeable, international and also very satisfactory in terms of numbers. The well-received programme of events demonstrates that our industry has potential and that we are capable of mobilising this potential.”
boot Düsseldorf 2011 is scheduled to take place from 22 - 30 January 2011.
Düsseldorf, 31 January 2010
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Messe Düsseldorf GmbH
