Informa Markets has confirmed the cancelation of the Monaco Yacht Show 2020. The 30th-anniversary edition was due to take place in September, but the disruption caused by Covid-19 has made it too difficult to host the event this year.
The organizer took the decision following weeks of consultation with various stakeholders including superyacht owners, shipyards and brokers. It became clear that too many of them had faced, and continue to face, significant challenges. The original plan was to make the 30th-anniversary edition bigger and better than ever, but the sheer level of disruption has made that impossible to achieve.
Informa has instead thrown all of its eggs into the For Lauderdale basket, which at this point is still going ahead in October. The Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show is considered far more viable as much of the world’s superyacht fleet is currently located in the US and Caribbean. The show will display more than 900 boats, including 100 superyachts.
Charlie McCurdy, CEO of Informa Markets, said: “Like many other industries, the international super yachting community has experienced significant disruption in 2020. As we move to the other side of Covid-19, we are remaining agile in how we are supporting our partners and customers, flexing our events calendar, adapting products and providing digital alternatives where beneficial to best meet the needs of international communities through this difficult period.”
“To this end, we are focusing our efforts in the latter part of the year on delivering a strong platform to showcase the industry at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show in late October, with the Monaco Yacht Show now set to return in style in September 2021, when it will celebrate its 30th Anniversary.”
Informa has explored every avenue in an attempt to bring the show to Monaco this year. It announced last month plans to make the Monaco Yacht Show 2020 a non-profit event to help support the industry in its recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Informa worked closed with the principality to determine if such an event would be beneficial to the industry. The cancellation suggests it would not.
Images: ©Monaco Yacht Show