100 days to go until Korea International Boat Show
(Published February 18, 2013)

Preparations are well under way
 
– This year’s event to be held at KINTEX, Goyang, May 30 to June 2
– Number of exhibition booths increased to 1,000 booths for 300 businesses

◇ Gyeonggi Governor Kim Moon-soo looks around the site of the Korea International Boat Show 2012. ⓒ G-News Plus / Yu Je-hun
 
The Korea International Boat Show 2013, the largest marine leisure exhibition event held in Korea, is now only 100 days away.
 
The annual event has been held in Jeongok Port, Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province since 2008. This year, it will be held at KINTEX, Goyang for four days from May 30.

During the event period, the Marine Leisure Festival and the Korea Match Cup World Yacht Competition will be held in Jeongok Port, Hwaseong.
 
KINTEX, Goyang has been designated as the venue for the Korea International Boat Show in an effort to cement the latter’s status as a business-centered expo and to attract more people from nearby population centers, including Seoul. Moreover, KINTEX offers more advantages in terms of its greater accessibility and wider range of available accommodation than Jeongok Port.
 
KINTEX has well over twice the amount of exhibition space (28,500㎡) than Jeongok (11,600㎡). The Gyeonggi Provincial Office will provide 1,000 booths for 300 businesses this year, compared to 620 booths for 190 businesses in 2012.
 
Among the huge range of marine leisure items to be displayed at the expo are sail yachts, power yachts, inflatable boats, canoes, kayaks, engine parts, and interior/exterior accessories for yachts and boats.

The Gyeonggi Provincial Office will upgrade the boat show as a comprehensive outdoor leisure event encompassing scuba diving, camping, and angling, as well as hosting conferences for experts and educational programs. The exhibition venue will also organize a number of unique experience events, including special skills demonstration zones where visitors can learn how to control and use canoes, kayaks, water bikes, pedal boats and water scooters.◇ The Korea International Boat Show is welcomed by pleasure seekers visiting the beach on a balmy spring day. ⓒ G-News Plus / Yu Je-hun
 
The Korea International Boat Show 2012 reinforced its position as a leader in the country’s marine leisure industry as shown by the relevant figures (i.e. a 20% increase in the number visitors and a 41% increase in the amount of contracts signed [worth $82 million] over the preceding year).
 
The MOUs signed in 2012 with the UCINA of the Italy, the NMMA of the United States, and the German Boat and Shipbuilders Association (DBSV) gave the event a major boost. The NMMA of the Unites States took part in the event, using a national pavilion for the first time in the past five years. This year, the marine industry associations of the United Kingdom and South Africa, as well as the NMMA, have expressed their intention to participate in the expo.
 
Last year, the international event signed up for the International Federation of Boat Show Organizers (IFBSO) and the International Council of Marine Industry Associations (ICOMIA) in an effort to upgrade its status as a leading boat show in Asia.
 
Visitors to last year’s event said that they had a great time, and especially enjoyed the amateur dinghy racing, hands-on scuba diving experience, beach volleyball, row boating, bajirak (manila clams) collecting, treasure hunting of Nueseom Island, and the sail boat dating experience, etc.
 ◇ Delighted children having fun at the Korea International Boat Show 2012 ⓒ G-News Plus / Yu Je-hun
 
In the open competition for PR materials to be used for the Korea International Boat Show 2013, Mr. Lee Yong-gi won first prize in the poster category for The Sea is Our Future and received KRW 5 million in prize money. In the slogan category, Lim No-jin was the runner-up (there was no first-prize winner) with Boat Sails Are a Sign of Hope and the Sea is a Place for Dreamers, for which he received KRW 500,000.
 
A total of 225 posters and 2,246 slogans were submitted to the competition, which was held between December 10, 2012 and January 13, 2013. The prize winners were selected by a panel of judges composed of professors and screened by a team of officers at the Gyeonggi Provincial Office on February 21.

Commenting on the event, an official said, “As this year’s event is being held at KINTEX, Goyang near Seoul, we expect many more people to visit it. We will also encourage them to have a good time in Jeongok Port, where the Marine Leisure Festival and the Korea Match Cup World Yacht Competition are being held.”◇ Gyeonggi Governor Kim Moon-soo congratulates medal winners at the closing ceremony of the Korea Match Cup World Yacht Competition 2012. ⓒ G-News Plus / Yu Je-hun
 
ⓒ G-News Plus New | Park Gwan-sik malbut@kg21.net
 
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