Nautic Festival SA, the arm for boat shows
The new structure created by the Fédération des Industries Nautiques will be in charge of organising the boat shows it owns. This limited company has a supervisory board and a management board. We find there the people already involved before in the Nautic, each coming with their experiences.
Alain Pichavant, until now General Commissioner of Nautic, becomes General Manager of Nautic Festival SA. Fabien Métayer, General Delegate of FIN, completes the Management Board.
The supervisory board of Nautic Festival SA is composed of the presidents and vice-presidents of FIN, Yves Lyon Caen, Jean-Pierre Goudant and Stéphan Constance.
No other information has been provided to date on the organisation of Nautic Festival SA.
Dispute with Reed Expo
As we mentioned in these columns, the Fédération des Industries Nautiques announced at the 2016 Nautic that it had withdrawn the organisation of the Paris boat show at Reed Expo. Legal proceedings are also under way concerning the Cannes Yachting Festival.
In its last press release, FIN explained part of the reason for this. On October 21, 2016, it broke its contract with Reed Expo following the eviction of Mr. Jean-Daniel Compain, one of the managers responsible for the French boat shows. Several months of exchanges had proved fruitless, according to FIN. The latter is continuing its action before the Paris Tribunal de Grande Instance to assert its rights.
Aligning with European boat shows
Beyond the organisational dispute with Reed Expo, it seems that it was a deep desire on the part of FIN to directly take over the French boat shows that led it to create Nautic Festival SA. Indeed, as she recalls in her last press release, boat shows are a major economic stake for the French yachting industry. It is the first point of sale for the French market. 70% of sales to French boaters are made at boat shows.
Like FIN, owner of the Cannes Yachting Festival and the Nautic boat shows in Paris, the national professional federations in Europe and the USA most often hold boat shows in their countries. The only counter-example according to FIN, the Dusseldörf Boot, is nevertheless one of the most dynamic exhibitions.
While FIN's willingness to get directly involved can be welcomed, other models seem to work. Trade fairs, organised in partnership between exhibition centres and federations, such as the Nautico trade fair in Barcelona or the Scandinavian trade fairs, find their public. It will surely take more than a reorganisation for the Nautic to continue to hold its own in the face of rising trade fairs.
FIN is to present the organisation of Nautic Festival SA next January.
