- The Valencia Boat Show has presented its revamped 2019 edition in Madrid.
- Professionalisation, good communications, competitive rates and a wide range of activities, amongst the key aspects of the upcoming edition.
- The Marina de València and the city take part in the event.
- Feria Valencia comes on board as a strategic partner.
The Valencia Boat Show recently presented in Madrid its 11th edition, which will be held from the 30th of October to the 3rd of November at La Marina de València. The Conexus Foundation hosted the press presentation of the event, which was attended by Nacho Gómez-Zarzuela, director of the Valencia Boat Show; Vicent Llorens, general director of the Valencia 2007 Consortium, managing body of La Marina de València; Antonio Bernabé, director of the Turismo Valencia Foundation; and Isabel Gil, president of the Union of Nautical Companies (UEN), the nautical business association that organises the event. In the afternoon the Valencia Boat Show also celebrated its presentation in Madrid at a social event that took place at the Madrid Financial Club.
Renovation and growth
For its 11th edition, the Valencia Boat Show has a fully professional team, led by journalist Nacho Gómez – Zarzuela, who has designed a global event that combines the sale of boats, accessories and services with marine leisure and the promotion of the city as a sea destination. The result of this new concept has been an unprecedented growth: with five months to go before the event, the presence of more than 60 exhibitors, amongst which are the main brands of boats, engines and accessories, has already been confirmed.
New features for 2019
The Valencia Boat Show, which renewed its format in 2016, moving its dates to the autumn to focus on the exhibition and sale of new boats, adds a new aperture component for 2019 in a double sense: to citizens and to new sectors such as surfing, paddle-surf, windsurfing and fishing.
One of the great new features for the next edition is the strategic combination of professional spaces destined to the exhibition and sale of new boats, engines, accessories and marine services with areas open to the public that will host activities during the five days of the event, like a large paddle-surf outing, initiation to stand-up-paddle, SUP Yoga and SUP Pilates, cinema sessions with nautical themes, concerts and gastronomy, amongst others.
In addition, the show will have specific sections dedicated to all things marine, from surfing, paddle-surfing, windsurfing, sailing and motor sailing to sustainability and stewardship of the seas. “The boat show concept has to go hand in hand with the concept of sea festival,» said the director of the event, Nacho Gómez – Zarzuela.
Marine industry 4.0
Innovation will be another incentive to visit the Valencia Boat Show, which will have an area dedicated to marine industry 4.0, with the presence of startups in the sector and innovation projects related to the sea.
The city gets involved in the event
The new project of the Valencia Boat Show has managed to involve all the Valencian institutions, which have joined in, creating a great nautical event of national and international scope. The Marina de València, home to two editions of the America’s Cup, includes the Valencia Boat Show as one of the highlights of its strategic plan, and has joined the event as organiser, together with the Union of Nautical Companies (UEN). The Valencian dock will be in charge of the organisation of some of the activities open to the public and has programmed its anniversary to coincide with the next edition of the Valencia Boat Show.
“The Valencia Boat Show is going to be the reason for getting closer the sea,” said Vicent Llorens, general director of Consorcio Valencia 2007, managing body of La Marina de València, who stressed that “the marine sector encompasses tourism, training, education, industry and leisure, it is a productive sector with an impressive capacity for development and generation of wealth.”
For their part, Turismo Valencia is once more providing all its support to the show, an event that is in alignment with the promotion of the city as a sporting destination, highlighting the weather and the terrain that make it ideal for outdoor sports such as running, triathlon, golf and water sports, amongst others, as well as the capacity, resources and facilities of the city to successfully host sporting events of different types and sizes.
Valencia, a well-connected city year-round
Valencia’s excellent connections with the main European cities – the city currently has a direct route with more than 90 airports, in addition to the Madrid-València high-speed train connection – make it the ideal venue for hosting sporting events at any time of the year, such as the Valencia Boat Show, which has been taking advantage of the bank holiday weekend on the 1st of November for the past three years. In fact, during the month of November, the city will also host the last race of the Moto GP season, and the València Trinidad Alfonso Marathon will be held on the 1st of December.
“The show is undergoing a spectacular metamorphosis that goes beyond the marine industry. It has become an event to showcase new products and services, but also a space to enjoy the sea, with creative and innovative experiences”, said the director of the Turismo Valencia Foundation, Antonio Bernabé, during the presentation.
Feria Valencia, strategic partner of the event
At the organisational level, another of the great new features for the next edition of the Valencia Boat Show is the incorporation of Feria Valencia as a strategic partner, contributing its century-old know-how in trade fair management. Thus, Feria Valencia, which annually attracts more than one million visitors from all over the world in its international exhibitions, is committing to getting involved in events for the city and its marina, bringing in sectors such as marine tourism to markets such as Madrid, Andalusia, Murcia and the Valencian Community itself.
Madrid is also sailing
As pointed out by the director of the Valencia Boat Show, Nacho Gómez Zarzuela during the presentation, Madrid is undoubtedly one of the target markets for the event, since it is only an hour and a half from Valencia and it is the Spanish city with the third highest number of boat registrations, only behind the Balearic Islands and Barcelona. The capital has 13 yacht clubs and is the third capital in Spain in terms of marine companies, besides being the strategic point where some of the great nautical events of the country have been conceived.
A show arising from the sector
As pointed out by Isabel Gil, president of the Union of Nautical Companies (UEN), a non-profit association that organises the event, the Valencia Boat Show is a show “organised by and for the marine industry”, a nautical show arising from the need of the sector to have an event to showcase their products together in Valencia, taking advantage of the excellent conditions of La Marina de València, which allows prospective buyers to test boats at sea before acquiring them. The president of the business association has highlighted the fact that the Valencia Boat Show “is the last show of the autumn in the Mediterranean, which generates a large turnover” and that with the new strategic shift “will attract all kinds of target audiences.”
New partners
The Valencia Boat Show 2019 has the support of MAPFRE, acting as official insurer, the boat charter and management platform M Yachts, the Cillar de Silos winery and the Tactic Audiovisual production company, amongst others.
The venue chosen for the event was the Conexus Madrid-Comunitat Valenciana Foundation, a private, non-profit, independent and plural business organisation, whose objective is to strengthen the economic, social and cultural ties between Madrid and the Valencian Community.
The Valencia Boat Show will be held from the 30th of October to the 3rd of November at La Marina de València.
