Attendance Continues to Grow at METSTRADE

This year's METSTRADE Show has again broken all previous records with attendance up 8% on last year. As well as being the largest and most popular marine trade show in the calendar, three in-show conferences for leisure marine sustainability, yacht design and construction and marinas attracted a record number of delegates to the RAI in Amsterdam.  

With 6610 personnel representing 1471 exhibiting companies, METSTRADE is a huge event that requires a good deal of planning to cover all bases. This was made easier by the staff at multiple information points around the show and the excellent materials produced by the show's organizers.

There was a final total of 23,702 visits, with 15,541 unique visitors, representing an increase of 8% over last year. Attendees came from 11,091 different companies, representing a rise of 7.5%.

A breakdown of the rise in attendance at METSTRADE

The Superyacht Pavilion hosted 265 exhibitors this year, with 64 stands in the Marina & Yard Pavilion and 45 in the Construction Material Pavilion. Around 64% were from outside the Netherlands, with Italy, France and Denmark greatly strengthening their presence.

There was also a signifcant rise in the number of Russian, Polish and Swiss visitors at the show. Approximately 22% of visitors were under 35 years of age, with 85% of all visitors having decision-making authority within their companies.  

The beneft to business

Wednesday was visibly the busiest day with almost 10,000 visitors filling the 11 halls, which this year included an additional 3000 square metres of floor space. There was also tangible energy around the show, most notably on Wedesday evening on the British Marine stand where spirits were high and the doom around Brexit was given very short shrift.

Numerous venues and a range of hospitality made for easy networking, and the METSTRADE Online Community launched earlier this year has proved very popular, enabling members to connect and and keep up to speed with industry innovations year round.

Speaking about the new Leisure Marine Sustainability Conference and the Boat Builder Awards gala, RAI Amsterdam's Maritime METSTRADE manager Irene Dros, said, 

“These kinds of events attract the crème de la crème from the industry and add excellent high-end networking concepts to the show. We will continue to emphasise this aspect in the years ahead as it is a win-win situation for everyone.” said Irene Dros.

"The side programme of conferences and events was bigger and better than ever before, and it is clear that METSTRADE increasingly serves as a magnet for smart initiatives from across every discipline and market within the maritime world. Not only are we compering more events, crucially, they are all proving to be very successful and focused on the kind of face-to-face meetings for which RAI Amsterdam is renowned.”

The recent news that RAI Amsterdam has acquired a 50% share in the IBEX trade show (the US equivalent of METSTRADE) is further testimony to this forward-thinking approach. As Dros concludes, “None of this would be possible without the excellent long-lasting partnerships we have with the exhibitors at METSTRADE. Their willingness to innovate is the engine – the wind in our sails – that will drive us on as we continue taking this show to new heights of B2B excellence.”

See METSTRADE video coverage of this year's events

METSTRADE 2017 will be held from 14 to 16 November in RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre.