Cancellation of the Boot Düsseldorf 2022
The German Boat Show Boot is cancelled for the second year in a row. The stands at the Düsseldorf exhibition center will remain empty and without boats from January 22 to 30, 2022. The state government of North Rhine-Westphalia, in coordination with the German federal authorities, have banned the event that marks the beginning of the boating year in Europe, as is the case in January for all trade fairs and conventions in the country.
A nautical industry less impacted than the event industry
The news is worse for organizers than for boat builders, marine equipment manufacturers and service providers in the yachting industry. The European boating sector is facing difficulties in meeting the demand from boaters, with very full order books. Faced with the health risks associated with the new variants and the lack of offer to visitors, many shipyards had cancelled their participation in the event, whose large budget did not correspond to the return they could expect. The image operation, more than sales, would have addressed only a local public and not an international one, because of the travel difficulties.
The decided communication of the Boot Düsseldorf organizers, until the late cancellation of December 30, 2021, less than a month before the opening, testifies on the other hand to the importance of these events for an event sector severely impacted since 2020. The opportunistic exhibitors who participated in the Nautic are probably happy about it today, but this new cancellation puts the finger on the fragility of indoor events in the current health context.
