Visitor numbers were up at METS 2013, but how does it compare to 2012?
This year’s Marine Equipment Trade Show (METS) in Amsterdam saw record attendance of 20,500 people during its three-day run, an encouraging figure compared to the 19,617 people who attended last year’s event. Exhibitor numbers were also up from 1,318 in 2012 to 1,320 this year.
As with most boat and trade shows, the numbers only tell half the story, however. Encouragingly the mood on the show floor seemed to have dialled a notch up toward the positive, compared to 2012, with most of those exhibitors canvassed by IBI reporting a decent show – little wonder then at close the organiser claimed to have already sold 50 per cent of the exhibitor space for 2014.
If you can’t do business at METS then you’re dead in the water, or words to similar effect, have become something of a METS mantra over recent years and 2013 was no different. There were pockets of the show that remained quiet, it’s fair to say – the Marina Pavilion felt subdued at times – but it seems that the conundrum of the Elicium had finally been cracked by the organisers with the introduction of the Materia Xperience that showcased a wide range of materials from other industries. For so long that area of the show had been little more than a thoroughfare between Halls 9 and 10 and the rest of the show, but the Xperience encouraged decent numbers to divert and linger.
Another improvement, as far as IBI was concerned, was the positioning of the DAME winners display – on the mezzanine at entrance C. In fact the whole DAME Awards ceremony seemed a slicker, more professional affair – with the categories, nominees and winners moved swiftly through to ensure at no point did the ceremony lag.
The Young Professionals Club also seems to be cementing itself as an important fixture.
For a quick review of DAME 2013 click here to view IBI’s video footage from the show floor.
What was METS 2013 like for you? Take part in our online poll on the www.ibinews.com homepage or email your comments on the show, or our views above, to the IBI editor.
Show highlights:
– A keynote speech by Brunwick chairman and CEO Dusty McCoy, who called the industry to action over the rising costs of boating and the need to increase value for the consumer.
– The announcement of the DAME Award winners, with Sleipner Motor picking up the overall prize for its Vector fin stablizers. See the complete list of winners here.
– The Workshop on New Technologies and Manufacturing, which was staged by ICOMIA in collaboration with IBI. The subjects this year were varied and topical, ranging from glazing for yachts through to production modularisation in leisure boatbuilding and ISO standards and revisions. (https://plus.ibinews.com, 26 November 2013)