The Monaco Yacht Show will be celebrating its 25th anniversary with a grand display of 500 exhibitors and a record-breaking 120 superyachts, in a new improved layout

The 2015 Monaco Yacht Show (MYS), which will open its doors to visitors on September 23, will be a celebration of the event’s silver jubilee.  

Over the last 25 years, the show has been the tale of one city – Monte Carlo – and throughout its history, it has always successfully developed great expectations.

Twenty-five years ago, the Principality of Monaco had no flagship yachting event of its own, despite already being the international meeting point for large yacht owners and their broker agents who arrived in the city’s port to discuss sale, charter and refitting.  Deals were struck, contracts signed and new yachts were built as a result of those meetings and the local authorities realised they should develop yacht business activities around the iconic Port Hercules.

Those who attended the very first edition of the show in 1991 recall the entire event was staged along Quai des Etats-Unis with around 50 exhibiting companies, mainly from Monaco and the French Riviera eager to show their wares.  Just a handful of foreign companies took stands and 30 yachts, whose average length was just 32 m, were made available to those who sought to inspect them.

Fast forward two decades, the show has moved on some!  The same Monaco-based yachting businesses have grown as the show developed into the world’s premier superyacht event. Few can argue now that Monaco is the world hub of the superyacht industry and the jewel in the industry’s crown is, undoubtedly, the principality’s annual yachting show.

This September, the MYS will deliver its largest-ever event, unveiling a record-breaking showcase of 120 spectacular superyachts afloat. The expected average size of these yachts this year exceeds 47 m. As many as 500 exhibitors will display their most innovative, tailor-made products and services lying at the pinnacle of luxury yachting.

Much has changed since the MYS first opened, but there are similarities. Back then, as now, the world was on the road to recovery following a slump in financial markets.  The conviction that now buoys the superyacht industry in today’s commercial climate, resembles that same buoyancy encountered in the early part of the 1990s. Now, as was happening then, there is a new air of confidence, orders are being signed, designers are talking of ever larger tonnage and the myriad of service industries that surround the building of yachts are flourishing as a result.  Visitors to this year’s show will have every reason to notice a spring in the step of those walking the docks, say the organisers.


IMPROVED LAYOUT

Extra berths for larger yachts and the need to accommodate essential public works scheduled to transform and improve the port over the next three years means the 2015 edition of the show will sport a different look.

There has been an exciting reorganisation of the exhibition area, relocating much of the historical exhibition area that, in the past, occupied the Darse Nord at Quai Antoine 1er.  A new zone, able to accommodate most of the exhibitors from the former Darse Nord tent, will offer 2,825 sq m of surface area divided into two air-conditioned tents. The first, Quai Antoine 1er A, will have an area of 2,425 sq m and the second, known as Quai Antoine 1er B and given especially to the members of HISWA (industry trade group for the Netherlands water sports business), will be smaller offering 400 sq m of space. 

Quai Rainier III, usually utilised by cruise ships during the show, has been specifically set aside to offer three extra berths for superyachts in excess of 100 m in the next few years and will become a new and exciting focal point of the show.

Extending the show along Jetée Lucciana down to Quai Rainier III has given organisers the opportunity to enhance the reception, information and transportation services area. This reorganisation has enabled them to plan for a more coherent and homogeneous traffic flow between all of the existing and newly created exhibition areas.

The Entrance at Darse Sud entrance will no longer exist and visitors and exhibitors will use the new entrance at the end of Quai Antoine 1er or the one closest to their stand for accreditation. Both the VIP courtesy car service and the welcome desk will also be located beside this entrance. The entrances at Parvis Piscine and Quai Louis II remain as before.

While the show will still provide a fleet of shuttle boats crisscrossing the busy harbour, a new golf cart service will offer visitors the opportunity to sedately ride in comfort inside the show venue. 

With improved transportation services and the addition of two car parks offering 600 spaces located close to the new entrance, accessing the MYS and reaching the whole exhibition areas in a few minutes has never been so easy!


ATTRACTING THE ULTRA-WEALTHY

In recent years, there has been a surge in younger buyers entering the superyacht market. Now instead of flying in from the US and driving in from mainstream Europe, wealthy visitors are flocking to Monaco from all over the world. They bring not just their money but with it a new enthusiasm for luxury on the water.

Much of this new wave of excitement has come about following an awareness programme implemented by the show’s organisers working with partners in the Far East, which is said to have created a better understanding of the superyacht concept to an “awakening audience”. 

Events like Monaco Week in Shanghai and Beijing during June 2015 have done a great deal to promote Monaco to China’s social elite. The Monaco Embassy in China and the show’s media partner Blu Inc Media have worked hard to attract visitors from the orient and the MYS organisers expect to cement their relationship with this “burgeoning superyacht owning elite” at this year’s event.

In the run-up to the show, Arabian Knight will keep its readers up to date with news on its website www.arabianknightonline.com.

25TH MONACO YACHT SHOW
From: Wednesday, September 23
To: Saturday, September 26
Where: Port Hercules, Boulevard Albert 1er – Principality of Monaco 
Opening hours: 10 am to 6.30 pm
Official sponsor: Ulysse Nardin