Organizers of the 26th annual Monaco Yacht Show are expecting 120 superyachts, including about 40 that will make their world premieres. The showcase will highlight the wide range of styling and features now available at the top end of the yachting industry, from the new 181-foot Damen yacht-support vessel (to be displayed complete with tenders, scuba gear and a submersible) to the 238-foot Lürssen Coral Ocean — a note-worthy brokerage option thanks to her design by the late Jon Bannenberg, her Polynesian interior and her new availability for charter.
Also new this year will be the Car Deck, an exhibition space that will display luxury vehicles for sale. Some will be available for test drives in the heart of Monaco — yes, on some of the same streets that become a racetrack during the exhilarating Monaco Grand Prix each May.
The idea for the Car Deck is an outgrowth of other partnerships intended to bring financially qualified individuals with other interests into the world of yachting. According to a recent report by Camper & Nicholsons International and Wealth-X, while more than 200,000 ultra-high-net-worth people exist in the world today, fewer than 4,500 have superyachts. Adding venues such as the Car Deck to the Monaco Yacht Show might entice more of those people to broaden their interests to include super-yachts, show organizers say, “if we can leave the beaten tracks of the yachting world to seek new clients elsewhere.”
This year’s Car Deck is the latest initiative created as part of a marketing shift that began for the Monaco Yacht Show three years ago, to further attract ultra-high-net-worth clients. An opening gala for select attendees will be held this year, along with the third edition of the MYS Superyacht Awards, focusing on the newest yachts about 130 feet length overall and larger in the show. Courtesy cars will be dispatched to collect attendees from Monaco hotels, and three helicopter lines will offer transfers from the Nice airport and the Cannes and St. Tropez business terminals.
About 50 guests will be invited to this year’s Monaco Yacht Summit, held in conjunction with the show. The summit will include workshops on owning super-yachts, designed to pique brokerage interest as well as new-yacht buyers.
“The fact that Monaco Yacht Show is organizing a new MY Summit exclusively for owners, potential future buyers and their representatives confirms the will and ambition that we have expressed over the last three years to promote the yachting industry to potential clients who seek information about a sector they are more or less familiar with, and to invite them to come and meet the exhibitors on the quays of Port Hercules the very next day,” says Gaëlle Tallarida, general manager of the Monaco Yacht Show.
