At the General Assembly of European Boating Industry (EBI) on 14 June 2022, three new members were admitted to the association. As new members, Greece will be represented by the Hellenic Professional Bare-Boat Υacht Owners Association (SITESAP) and Lithuania by the Lithuanian Boating Industry Association (LITBoat).

Paris Loutriotis, SITESAP President said “We are very pleased to be informed of EBI's positive decision on our application to join the association representing the interests of recreational boating in Europe. We strongly believe that recreational boating is an economic sector with great potential, not only on a national level, but also on a European level, as it offers common approaches and benefits.”

Karolis Valenta, President of LITBoat remarked “We wanted to become a member of EBI to join the organisation representing the interests of recreational boating in Europe, as Europeans we want to be a part of this professional family. We are confident that EBI membership will help us to bring together all stakeholders in boating in Lithuania to develop the infrastructure, increase the number of recreational boats in the country and provide the highest level of service to all boaters.”

Joining as new sustaining member for 2022 is Turkish distributor, technical and after-sales specialist Carkcı Denizcilik. Since 1994 Çarkçı Denizcilik and Yachting family, has been working together with the world's leading brands to support recreational boating in Turkey, where they are among the leading distributors in the sector. Çarkçı Denizcilik not only provides distribution and sales services, but also supports its customers with technical and after-sales services.

Sustaining members profit from a comprehensive package of benefits, including expertise and access to EBI’s network while able to contribute to EBI’s advocacy activities and other initiatives. Furkan Çarkçı, the company’s Manager says “We believe that our partnership with the European Boating Industry can be a bridge between the European and Turkish associations for the future of sustainability and digitalisation of the industry. We are pleased that our application for membership has been accepted and hope that our inclusion in the EBI family will help create a better world for future generations.”

Based on the new strategy launched in January 2022 under the theme of “Advancing and representing a sustainable boating and nautical tourism industry #MadeInEurope”, several new initiatives were agreed by the General Assembly. They will be launched in the coming months and years to provide a comprehensive value proposition to members and the entire European industry, across the fields of advocacy, promotion, services, market and regulatory intelligence, and events.

EBI President Jean-Pierre Goudant commented “We are delighted to welcome three new members and expand with new full members in Lithuania and Greece and a sustaining member in Turkey. While geographically very different, all three countries have a strong boating and nautical tourism industry and large potential in our sector. We look forward to working with our new members to strengthen and grow the European industry further. We are delighted that our new strategy is showing itself to be attractive to new members and we look forward to rolling out a number of new initiatives”