From 15 to 17 April in Monaco the World Yachting Summit, the first global meeting platform of the boating industry, with the claim “Charting a course for new horizons”, will provide a 360° view of new innovation, trends, and challenges.

Purposefully organised in an international location, the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort, and  inspired by world summits like the COP Conference of Parties, for the environments and the Davos Forum for economy and politics, the World Yachting Summit will include leaders in the boating industry, international organisations, regulators and tourist authorities, along with government representatives, waterfront developers and industry innovators, to favour an active dialogue and promote a constructive debate, encouraging concrete actions for the future of boating.

Topics of the World Yachting Summit

The program includes two in-depth topics, according to which have been organised contributions from a number of different speakers participating: business and tourism development, which aims to investigate and find the best business strategies to optimise local resources and favour sustainable and innovative growth, and transition to zero emissions, tackling the transition of the boating industry keeping an attentive eye on pressing environmental concerns highlighted by the 17 Sustainable Development Objective listed by the UN.

A detailed program

Many professionals have been invited to share their experience, representatives from all sectors of the boating industry: dealers and brokers, naval architects, representatives from shipyards and engine providers, tourist destination developers, regulators, institutes, legal and financial consultants.

Daily Nautica, a media partner for this event, had the opportunity to interview a number of people on this panel: Nicolas Boulet, CEO of Wisamo (Michelin Group), Tobias Kohl, director of Application Engineering Marine & Offshore for Rolls-Royce Solutions, Francis Lapp, founder and CEO of Sunreef Yachts, Dan Lenard, yacht designer from Nuvolari Lenard, Tomasz Lipski, president of the International Sailing Schools Association (ISSA) and Nicola Pomi, vice-president for yachting and superyachting sales for Volvo Penta, Arjen van Elk, marketing & resale for Feadship.

The World Yachting Summit will open with an analysis by Wealth-X by Altralta on the topic “The future of richness”, offering a prospective on growth opportunities and development for pleasure yachting, while the general meeting of the second day will be officially opened by Olivier Wenden, vice-president and general director of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, with a speech focusing on the need to have the boating industry work in harmony to protect the environment.

Expansion and internationalisation

In addition to yachting, there will also be presentations of topics from other fields, like private aviation or luxury hospitality, similar in regards to certain aspects, like, for example, client expectations, business evolution, tourist opportunities, technological innovations and provisional challenges. There is also an Area Showroom to provide networking opportunities, as well as the Innov’ Lounge, an area dedicated to start-ups interested in meeting with stakeholders in the boating industry.

With the aim of expanding internationally, the World Yachting Summit will include other geographical areas in future editions, starting with Dubai in 2026. This will enrich the summit with diverse cultures and perspectives, and will also provide participants with the opportunity to connect with other stakeholders in the sector and explore new markets.

by Marcella Ottolenghi