The 55^th edition of Boot Dusseldorf attracted 214,000 visitors across nine days in a cold January in inland Germany, down from the 237,000 in 2023 and 250,000 in 2020, when there were also over 1,900 exhibitors before the pandemic led to a three-year hiatus.

Organiser Messe Dusseldorf cited “very difficult conditions, from the arrival of winter weather to strikes” among challenges this year, but said the show once again demonstrated its excellent international standing in the industry.

Wolfram Diener, CEO and President of Messe Düsseldorf, said: “With 214,000 visitors from 120 countries, we’ve achieved a good result and can be more than satisfied in these challenging times. Customers and exhibitors have a unique platform for networking here. It’s great. We were once again able to underpin Boot Düsseldorf’s leading position with an inspiring business atmosphere in the exhibition halls.”

Organisers of the event succeeded in increasing both its proportion of trade visitors, from 18 per cent to over 21 per cent, as well as the ‘internationality’ of its customers, from 23.7 per cent to 34.3 per cent of visitors.

Overall, visitors revealed interest in sailing yachts (42 per cent), power boats (38.2 per cent), diving (27 per cent), boat wear (25.7 per cent), nautical tourism (19.4 per cent), charter (11.7 per cent) and surfing (9.8 per cent). A high percentage (94%) of visitors were extremely positive about the show programme.

Princess and Sunseeker were again the biggest exhibitors in Hall 6, the area dedicated to luxury motor yachts. Sunseeker’s nine models included the Europe debuts of the Ocean 182 and Predator 75, while the 95 Yacht customised for the Meros Yachtsharing programme hosted an appearance by F1 driver Esteban Ocon, a brand ambassador for the co-ownership programme.

Princess’s display was headed by the brand’s flagship X95, the show’s largest yacht, making its Dusseldorf debut, with the length of the Plymouth builder’s eight models on display totalling almost 600ft.

Simon Clare, the shipyard’s Executive Director of Marketing, said: “Boot Dusseldorf is the perfect kickstart to the boating year. It’s always a spectacular event for visitors and exhibitors, and this year was no exception. The biggest show on the marine calendar, it’s also one of the most compelling showcases for the industry and we were delighted to contribute with one of the strongest line-ups we’ve had at the show.

“Being the first show of the year, Boot is often a good barometer for how the market may perform for the rest of the year and we were encouraged by how busy we were at the Princess stand and by the quality of the conversations we had. Both the sales completed at the show and the number of conversations to continue later back that up, so we’re optimistic for the year ahead.”

Bavaria Yachts exhibited powerboats in Hall 1 and sailing yachts in Hall 16, with management delighted with the attendance at both displays.

“We were delighted with the high visitor footfall at our two stands in Hall 1 for powerboats and in Hall 16 for sailing yachts, especially at the weekends but also on weekdays, and even more so about the consistently positive feedback from visitors about our yachts,” said Michael Müller, Bavaria’s CEO.

“We also used Boot to exchange ideas with our suppliers and new contacts from the yacht industry. We thank the trade fair company and the boot Düsseldorf team for their professional organisation of the trade fair and, after nine days in Düsseldorf, we can now look forward to 2024 with confidence.”

Patric Polch, Managing Director of Boote Polch, a dealer for Nimbus, Aquador, Paragon, Axopar and Brabus Marine, was similarly full of praise.

“We’re very satisfied with the outcome. Boot Düsseldorf is particularly important because it kicks off the water sports season and appeals to an enormous number of people due to its huge media presence. The mix of visitors to the trade fair fits in perfectly with our product range. In addition to many important domestic customers, a high level of internationality was also noticeable,” Polch said.

“At the same time, we noticed that the expertise of the customers was extremely high and the quality of the discussions was first-class. We registered far more demand at boot 2024 than in the previous year. It was particularly busy at the weekends, but we also welcomed many well-informed water sports enthusiasts from Germany and many European countries during the week.”

The 2025 edition of Boot Düsseldorf will be held from January 18-26.

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