Singapore has taken a major leap towards becoming the Monaco of the Far East, with the launch of the inaugural Singapore Yacht Show. The first annual Yacht Show makes the island only the third city, after Monaco and Abu Dhabi, to stage both the F1 Grand Prix and a megayacht show.
More than a dozen luxury yachts are part of the line-up for the inaugural show at One Degree 15 in Sentosa, inclusing a stunning 57-meter sailing yacht.
Yacht Show organizers put the show together on very short notice and showed that they could deliver.
Andy Treadwell, Managing Director of the Informa Yacht Group, said: “Three months is absolutely not enough time to organize a proper yacht show. “But for lots of reasons to do with our stakeholders and our own take on the need to launch a show now means that we have done it and we are very pleased. Lots of interest and looking forward to a really fantastic show in 2012.”
It is hoped that the rebounding megayacht industry will create spin-offs for other supporting services in the local economy.
Arthur Tay, Chairman of One Degree 15 Marina Club, said: “Retrofitting, interiors, F&B, sales of the boats, some of the conference things like cruising grounds, tourism aspects all have a part to play with this.”
The 3-day event was officially opened by the Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry, S. Iswaran, who said that Singapore has the potential to be the “third destination” for megayacht owners, after the Mediterranean and Caribbean.
It looks smooth sailing for the yachting industry, with 81 unique megayacht visits to Singapore in 2010, a 500% increase from 2006; a major reason why the Singapore Yacht Show is looking at doubling the number of boats for the 2012 edition.
