Watersports industry delivers very good verdict on boot 2024

Exhibitors delight at good sales, positive discussions and many new international customer contacts - boot 2024 © boot Düsseldorf

After nine days of boot 2024, the boating and water sports industry can deliver a positive verdict on the trade fair. "We had many new contacts at our stands and were able to conclude numerous deals. The right visitors ensured very good sales figures in the boat sector as well as for motors/engines, boards, diving equipment and accessories. boot 2024 provided the perfect start to the season," explains exhibitor spokesperson and trade fair president Robert Marx.

Despite very difficult conditions - from the arrival of winter weather to strikes - boot Düsseldorf once again demonstrates its excellent international standing in the industry. Accordingly, CEO & President of Messe Düsseldorf Wolfram Diener is very pleased with the positive outcome of the trade fair: "With 214,000 visitors from 120 countries, we have achieved a good result and can be more than satisfied in these challenging times. Customers and exhibitors have a unique platform for networking here. It's great, we were once again able to underpin boot Düsseldorf's leading position with an inspiring business atmosphere in the exhibition halls. I wish our exhibitors a good business year 2024."

boot Düsseldorf succeeded in increasing both its proportion of trade visitors (from 18% to over 21%) as well as the internationality of its customers (from 23.7 to 34.3%) and it is the only water sports fair in the world that attracts people from all continents. The majority of visitors were interested in sailing yachts (42%), followed by powerboat fans (38.2%), divers (27%), charterers (11.7%) and surfers (9.8%). However, boating apparel and travel were also in high demand at boot and proved very popular with 25.7% (boat wear) and 19.4% (nautical tourism). A high percentage (94%) of visitors were extremely positive about the show program

The résumé of the exhibitors supports this evaluation:

Hans Roeland summarises the trade fair success for Sea Ray: "One look at our stand says more than a thousand words! It was packed! We did excellent business and gained new customers throughout the boot 2024 trade fair. We were able to get visitors interested in our stand and conclude many deals."

Hanjo Runde, CEO HanseYachts: "We were able to present many new products at boot Düsseldorf. We were overwhelmed by the rush of over 10,000 visitors to our sailing and motor yachts, and our visitors enjoyed boot just as much as we did."

Simon Clare, Executive Director of Marketing Princess Yachts: boot Dusseldorf is the perfect kick start to the boating year. The biggest show on the marine calendar, it is also one of the most compelling showcases for the industry and we were delighted to contribute to that this year with one of the strongest line-ups we've ever had at the show. With four of our largest models on display in an eight boat line up, we had almost 600-feet of Princess models on show. We were also very proud to have the largest vessel at the show with the X95 making her show debut. Being the first show of the year, boot is often a good barometer for how the market may perform for the rest of the year and we've certainly been encouraged by how busy we have been at the Princess stand and by the quality of the conversations we've been having. Both the sales completed at the show and the number of conversations to continue later certainly back that up so we are optimistic for the year ahead. It is always a spectacular event for visitors and exhibitors alike and this year has certainly been no exception.

Michael Müller, CEO Bavaria, reports a very good trade fair result: "We were delighted with the high visitor footfall at our two stands in Hall 1 for powerboats and in Hall 16 for sailing yachts, especially at the weekends, but also on weekdays. And even more so about the consistently positive feedback from visitors to boot 2024 about our yachts. We also used boot 2024 to exchange ideas with our suppliers and new contacts from the yacht industry. We would like to thank the trade fair company and the boot Düsseldorf team for their professional organisation of the trade fair and, after nine days in Düsseldorf, we can now look forward to 2024 with confidence."

Mathis Kaufmann, Product Manager at MARES: "For MARES, boot is generally important for presenting our current range and new products. We can also answer many questions about our new products, especially for trade visitors. We were able to use boot 2024 as a very good stage for our 75th company anniversary."

Stefan Frauscher, Managing Director of Frauscher Bootswerft: "Thanks to two world premieres and the trend towards electromobility, we can look back on a very successful boot 2024."

Patric Polch, Managing Director of boote polch GmbH: "We are very satisfied with the outcome. boot Düsseldorf is particularly important because this trade fair kicks off the water sports season and appeals to an enormous number of people thanks to its huge media presence. The mix of visitors to the trade fair fits in perfectly with our product range - in addition to many important domestic customers, a high level of internationality was also noticeable. At the same time, we noticed that the expertise of the customers was extremely high and the quality of the discussions was first-class. We registered far more demand at boot 2024 than in the previous year. It was particularly busy at the weekends, but we also welcomed many well-informed water sports enthusiasts from Germany and many European countries during the week."

Next boot Düsseldorf will take place from 18 to 26. January 2025.