Show records KRW 210
million in contract consultations and 40,600 visitors, both unprecedented

◇ On May 23, Gyeonggi Province
announced that the 2016 Korea International Boat Show, now marking its ninth
year, concluded successfully on May 22 after attracting more than 40,000
visitors and enabling KRW 210 million in contract consultations. ⓒ Gyeonggi G-News

On May 23, Gyeonggi Province
announced that the 2016 Korea International Boat Show, now marking its ninth
year, concluded successfully on May 22 after attracting more than 40,000
visitors and enabling KRW 210 million in contract consultations. 

Held at simultaneously at two
venues – KINTEX
in Goyang City and Ara Marina in Gimpo City – the 4-day event began
in May 19. This year’s event featured 404 participating companies and buyers from 28
countries all over the world as well as 1,565 booths.  

Focusing on attracting
outstanding buyers and concentrating on targeted markets in Korea using know-how
accrued over the past eight years, the export consultation sessions from May 19
to 20 saw the amount of contract consultations jump more than 26% compared to
the previous year. It was a chance to see the potential of the marine leisure
industry as an alternative for the exporting sector.  

Gyeonggi Province Economy Assistant
Governor Oh Byeong-gwon said, “Witnessing the number of visitors and the
value of contract consultations achieve new records every year, I would like to
thank the companies and the public for their interest and participation in the
marine leisure industry.” Oh added, “As a key exhibition for the marine leisure industry, the Korea
International Boat Show will contribute even more in job creation and industry
development.” 

Daedong Marine Tech, a
maritime engine manufacturer, exports goods worth USD 3 million to the
Vietnamese Coast Guard. It also successfully signed export contracts with
buyers from multiple countries including Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Sri
Lanka. Meanwhile, DTEC, a boat manufacturer, undertook consultations with buyers
for fishing vessels valued at USD 600,000. In addition, Boat Korea, which
participated in the exhibition this year as an official sponsor, turned in an
impressive performance by selling all of its new rubber boats on the first day.
 

Participating in the Korea International
Boat Show for seven straight years, an insider at Hyundai Yachts said, “We sold
memberships for yachts for the first time ever at this year’s Korea International Boat Show. With such interest from the
visitors as well as purchase inquiries, we were able to really feel the growth
of Korea’s marine leisure industry.” 

The Korea International Boat
Show has grown into one of the three major boat shows in Asia. This year’s exhibition recorded
40,600 visitors, marking a 14% increase from the 35,000 of the previous year.
This showed the increasing public interest in the marine leisure industry.  

This year, the show offered a
wider variety of supplementary events including an open conference, the Gimpo
Ara Marina maritime exhibition, experiential events, and various gift events, providing
visitors with more to do and see. The Expert Conference, which introduced the
marine leisure culture of advanced economies overseas, was very popular among
the visitors, and the Open Conference (held on the standing stage inside the
exhibition hall) was full of energy with not only marine leisure and sports
club members but also the general public.  

In particular, a marine
leisure human resources development project to create job opportunities was introduced
in this year’s exhibition.
This project to develop
outboard motor technicians will begin in order to supply more experts and
alleviate shortages in human resources as well as to ensure the safety of
marine leisure activities. The project will recruit students from June and
begin classes at Gyeonggi Techno Park from July. The booth set up to promote marine
leisure human resources development saw a constant stream of people looking for
employment. 

Next year’s 2017 Korea
International Boat Show is expected to get under way from May 25 to 28 at
KINTEX in Goyang and Ara Marina in Gimpo.

ⓒ Gyeonggi G-News | Kim Jin-kyoung jinkyoungkim@kg21.net

http://gnews.gg.go.kr/news/news_detail.asp?number=201605231148077055C052&s_code=C052