The Monaco Yacht Show is fighting back against the no sayers
Following yesterdays story reporting that both SYBAss and LYBRA are to withdraw their support for the Monaco Yacht show we learn from the organisers that further details about this year’s show will be confirmed by them later this week.
Confirming that the 2020 Monaco Yacht Show is still currently scheduled to take place from 23 to 26 September and avoiding any comment with regard to the SYBAss / LYBRA letter, a spokesman for the organisers told us: “For the last few weeks, we and Informa have been working closely with the Principality of Monaco to assess the best format for this year’s event in the aftermath of COVID-19.”
Invaluable platform
He added: “This will ensure the highest standards of hygiene, cleanliness and safety, whilst continuing to provide the international yachting community with an invaluable platform to connect with customers, share ideas and help support the speedy recovery of the industry.”
Many in the industry are questioning the wisdom of holding large international gatherings in Cannes and Monaco this September. Many potential visitors we have spoken too have confirmed they will not attend and hotels in Monaco for around of that time have plenty of spare capacity. Something that has been unheard of in years gone past this close to the show.
But there is sign of great unease. Several exhibitors we have spoken to are fighting to be allowed to stay away in September but are they say being bullied by the shows organisers to either paying for their stand for 2020 or loosing the ability to exhibit in the favoured stands in forthcoming shows.
SYBAss and LYBRA have told the show organisers “Our industry faces a new environment going forward. We simply cannot be investing such significant sums at this time into an event that looks likely to provide us with even less of an ROI than recent years and with an organiser that has consistently refused to listen to the voices of its most important players.
Fighting back
There has been, say exhibitors, growing concern over several several years, that the relationship between the organisers of the event and the exhibitors has soured and become imbalanced. One exbitor told us: “Costs have increased year on year, with our return on investment becoming harder to measure each year. Yet we fear that if we try and rock the boat the show organisers will find ways of fighting back and hurting our business and the reputation we have built