MYBA loses St Maarten Charter Show
The St Maarten Marine Trades Association confirmed last week that due to poor industry attendance, the Mediterranean Yachts Brokers Association (MYBA) will no longer run the St Maarten Charter Yacht show, according to St Maarten’s newspaper, The Daily Herald.
The Herald went on to claim that despite the best efforts of MYBA, this year’s St Maarten Yacht show failed to attract sufficient levels of industry attention, principally because it was too close to the Antiguan Charter Meeting. Many charter brokers allegedly chose to attend the more prestigious Antiguan show, which has been running for almost 50 years. It appears that many brokers felt that it would not be in their interests to attend both shows.
The Daily Herald also claimed that a settlement had been reached at the Genoa boat show earlier this year between the St Maarten Trades Association and MYBA, stipulating that if the show was not a commercial success, MYBA would lose their contract.
There are reports that even though MYBA has lost rights to the show, it may still go ahead next year at a different date or location. Many people in the industry however feel that there just isn’t room for another major super yacht show in the boat show calendar.
"The show may still go ahead next year at a different date or location."