The first edition of London Yacht Show organised by Informa and British Martime Group, has been announced postponed until 2020. The show, first presented in December 2018, was due to take place on May 8-12, 2019 at St. Katharine Docks Marina in central London. It has been rescheduled due to not enough interest from some industries and brands the show aimed at.
The event first known as London On Water Show, underwent rebranding in December 2018, renamed London Yacht Show. The original show, changed from a ten-day to a five-day format in 2018, had been previously held at ExCeL London.
The renewed event was to focus on the luxury end of the marine market. It generated interest and excitement in the industry, with many of the UK’s largest yachting brands signing up for the show and some luxury stakeholder’s pledging support, according to the Martime Group.
Andrew Williams, the President of Maritime Group, explains:
Since an initial burst of interest in the London Yacht Show, take-up has slowed from some segments of the industry and from luxury brands. And so, with just over a month to go until the planned launch, overall commitment to the event is not at the level required to deliver a show with the profile, scale and market breadth the industry asked for and deserves in London.
There was a line-up of more than 10 brands to exhibit at the show: Sunseeker, Princess , Fairline, Azimut, Bayliner, Bavaria Power & Sail, Chris Craft Boats, Discovery Yachts, Greenline, Hallberg Rassy, Malibu Boats, Sunsail Yacht Ownership and Sealine. The display programme was aimed to comprise over 60 vessels.
Keeping the venue as the historic St. Katharine Docks, the event was planning to host two floating villages with full size event marquees including a Platinum Pavilion, featuring luxury yachting and lifestyle products and a Monument Marquee, featuring boating accessories and toys.
From now on, the Maritime Group would be focussing on the 2020 edition of the event, added Williams.
It is worth mentioning, that the London Boat Show 2019, organised by British Marine and scheduled for January 2019, was also cancelled due to insufficient support from the marine industry.