METS success

The METSTRADE Theatre built on the success of its new location in hall 13, with a well-attended program covering key issues of the day, including ICOMIA’s propulsion decarbonisation study.

The Next Generation Propulsion Zone focused attention on climate-friendly solutions, while the DAME Awards display showcased 53 marine equipment products demonstrating the benefits of total design practice.

The industry’s need to serve inclusivity and people and skills development was served in several ways, including an expanded Young Professionals Club with its METSTRADE Career Zone and the second consecutive Women in the Marine Industry event.

Nothing taken for granted

“It is an absolute privilege to have the heritage and strong bow wave of positive sentiment from 34 editions behind us, but we take nothing for granted,” says METSTRADE director, Niels Klarenbeek, speaking after the show closed.

“The marine industry is moving at an incredible pace to address the many opportunities and challenges set before it.

“We were pleased to play our part in this 35th-anniversary edition by offering several well-received new features targeted at sustainability, people, skills, inclusivity and innovation.

“Our team is committed to ensuring that METSTRADE facilitates the connections and business required for a successful year ahead. Without the underpinning creativity and enterprise of the supply chain, we have no marine industry.

“Our 2023 numbers are impressive, but they don’t tell the whole story. We are particularly grateful to have received so much positive feedback about the quality of the interactions between our audience and exhibitors over an extremely busy three days.”

ICOMIA’s CEO, Joe Lynch, adds: “When working day-to-day you can be oblivious to the scale, variety, pace of innovation and new developments happening across the leisure marine sector.

“There is so much passion and enthusiasm within our industry and to see it condensed in one place is very exciting.

“ICOMIA has been a partner of METSTRADE since its first edition; as the global association representing marine industry associations around the world this show also offers the welcome opportunity for our committees to meet and plan together.”

Positive impacts

Speaking on the positive impact of METSTRADE on the new Foiling Technology Pavilion’s exhibitors, Luca Rizzotti, founder of The Foiling Organization and We Are Foiling events, agreed the 2023 edition had been highly successful.

“I had multiple comments suggesting that exhibitors had already booked enough work by the second day to cover 2024-25 and would now need to recruit new staff,” says Rizzotti. “The AC40 simulator attracted people to our area and the conference programme was always full – we expect the pavilion to grow and grow.”

Nearby, it was a similar story for the 15 fledgling companies on the Start-Up Pavilion. As Gabbi Richardson, founder of Yachting Ventures, explains: “We’ve had an incredible show with loads of traffic. People stopped to speak with one start-up, then ended up speaking to another and staying for an hour.

“All participants have been thrilled to be a part of such a positive initiative to encourage and promote new technologies and start-ups.”

That same kind of encouragement was available for younger individuals too. James Ward, CEO and founder of Marine Resources, recounts: “It’s been a brilliant three days in the Young Professionals Club & Career Zone. We’ve had great footfall coming through with real interest in the events here.

“The biggest takeaway is that there’s a real community of young professionals at METSTRADE – they have an appetite to get together, benefit from careers development activity, and enjoy networking opportunities.

“We’re excited by the positive feedback this year and look forward to working with young professionals at METSTRADE in the future.”

Organisers have confirmed this week that METSTRADE 2024 will run from 19 to 21 November 2024 in RAI Amsterdam.

metstrade.com