KIBS aims for regional appeal

12:18 AM Fri 30 Jan 2009 GMT

'AIMEX - (Left to Right) Korean Boat Show 2008 Barry Jenkins , Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show, Governor Kim and Mary Anne Edwards, Chief Executive AIMEX' AIMEX &copy Click Here to view large photo

The Korea International Boat Show is on track for a June 3 start, and plans to include an industry conference and Marine Festival in its program, aiming to broaden its range to make it a significant regional event.

The Gyeonggi Provincial Government in South Korea will host the 2nd Korea International Boat Show and Marine Festival from June 3-7 at Jeongok Marina, Hwaseong City, on the west coast of Gyeonggi Province.

Korea - what a lot of coastline - .. .

Gyeonggi Province Governor, Kim Moon-Soo highlighted the public response to the 2008 show as the main reason for hosting the 2009 event. 'The advent of the five-day work week in Korea coupled with household income growth has resulted in a surge demand for marine leisure activities. The overwhelming public response to the 2008 show and the sales achieved clearly illustrates the demand to go afloat denied to our people until peace with our neighbours opened up our coastal resources for leisure use.'

Governor Kim Moon-Soo - 2008 Korea International Boat Show Show Promotion - Marine Business News_.

Building on the outstanding success of the first show, the 2009 event will again incorporate a marine festival. The marine festival was a massive success at last year's event, resulting in over 350,000 visitors. In 2009, it will include lifestyle events, on water activities, conferences, concerts, fashion shows, all aimed at introducing the boating lifestyle to the public.

The completion of the new marina complex at the Jeongok show site will provide berths for over 100 boats afloat. On land, the improved dedicated show site within the marine festival will have increased exhibition space for all categories of boats, marine equipment and services.

Jeongok Marina, Hwaseong City Korea -

The primary purpose of the Conference is to be the main tool in establishing KIBS as a regional event rather than just a Boat Show for the Korea market. For the show to survive and prosper it is essential that it becomes a regional event.

Other aims for the Conference will be to aid the development of the 'Boating Industry Zone' in Gyeonggi and for it to become a regional centre of excellence for the industry and to encourage the establishment of the higher added value sector of the industry in Korea.

According to adviser to KIBS and seasoned industry consultant, Michael Derrett, Korea boasts vast potential for development in its marine sector.

'Asia is one of the main developing markets for the boating industry in the world and activity has been developing strongly for the past 4 years in the region from the Gulf States to China and Korea, although recently, in common with all other parts of the world growth has slowed.

'Currently the number of leisure boats over 5 metres in length in the Asian region, excluding the Gulf States and Japan, is between 25,000 to 30,000 boats. This is still a small number despite recent growth and the market is also very fragmented across the region.

'There is a need for a regional show which can achieve critical mass and start to attract regional trade and retail customers is strong; our vision is for KIBS to become this regional show.'

The government will inject a huge amount of capital in the Show and there is plenty of private equity in the country - the world's leading ship building nation and home to Samsung, Hyundai, KIA and LG.

It is envisaged that the marine conference will play a key part in attracting trade from across the region to KIBS, with a two-year plan to achieve 'critical mass' of attendees and exhibitors. Internationally regarded speakers and globally relevant topics are likely to be on the agenda.

The 2008 show, the first event of its kind in Korea, saw the participation of many of the world's leading boating brands with marine trade associations from Australia, France, Italy and the UK amongst the 240 exhibitors. The 350,000 visitors were triple the initial targets. High satisfaction was reflected in the responses given to the show exhibitor surveys with 75 per cent of the respondents indicating their intention to participate in 2009.

More at www.koreaboatshow.org/eng/index.jsp

by Jeni Bone

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