METS: a great show of confidence
METS: The 2009 Marine Equipment Trade Show (METS), now named METS and the SuperYacht Pavilion, seemed to be a tremendous success for everyone. BB was constantly told by exhibitors that they had done more business on the first day this year than they did during the whole show last year.
And that level of business seems to have continued to the finish, bringing with it a high level of confidence that was infectious. UK companies produced one clothing category win, one Eco product win and special mentions in clothing and marine related software. Not a bad haul…Henri Lloyd took the category win in the clothing category for its Blue Eco Jacket. The same Blue Eco Jacket also brought the company the Most ECO-Friendly Product certificate.
Musto got a special mention in the clothing category for its Active Base Layer and Kelvin Hughes also took a special mention in Marine Related Software for its Wiley Nautical Almanac 2009.
The overall DAME Award winner was FLIR Systems from the Netherlands for the M-626L Series Thermal Night Vision System. This system incorporates a micro-lux, low-light camera for improved visibility during twilight hours and a 26° field of view – an improvement of 25% over previous cameras.
The judges were impressed by the unit’s sleek design, Ethernet capability, and ease of installation by any OEM.
There were, of course, complaints about the revised layout of the show this year, with the US Pavilion a long way away from the Europa Hall, where most of the other country pavilions were located.
Last year the US Pavilion was close to the UK Pavilion, offering a walk-through past the DAME Award display and the media stands. This year the Media Plaza in the new Elicium was a bit of a dead end and those wanting to visit media stands had to make a special trip. This meant there was a low level of unwary passers-by to get mugged by ad managers eager to make target.
Surprisingly, given the current economic climate, the show attracted 18,454 visitors, against 18,485 last year. This year’s show had 1,261 exhibitors against 1,210 last year. All in all an excellent result for organisers Amsterdam RAI.
‘It’s been a difficult year for many in our industry but we’ve had a bustling show nonetheless,’ said senior product manager, Irene Dros. ‘The mood has been amazingly upbeat and the industry turnout – in terms of visitors and increased exhibitor numbers – translates as a tremendous show of confidence for METS and the SuperYacht Pavilion.’
Next year’s METS/SYP 2010 will be held on November 16, 17 and 18.
Category: Events News, Superyacht Innovations
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