boot Düsseldorf published a press release to inform about the new hygiene measures that will be adopted during the 2022 edition of boot Düsseldorf boat show. The new measures are in line with the Covid Protection Ordinance updated on 24^th November of boot Düsseldorf’s home state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The most important innovation is the introduction of the regulation for access of the visitors to the boot halls. Only vaccinated or recovered people will be allowed to enter the boot during the fair. The status of all visitors will be checked at the entrances to the fairground. Children up to 15 years are not affected by the measures in the North Rhine-Westphalian regulation. Trade fair participants from overseas are also allowed to enter Germany. Official information on the special regulations is available on the website of the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry AUMA.

The European Tourism Manifesto alliance, made up of over 70 European public and private tourism-related organisations (including EBI), has published a position paper in response to the European Commission’s Proposals for updated Council Recommendations for Intra-EU travel and for inbound travel to the EU. The paper welcomes the European Commission’s efforts to ensure a coordinated approach to travel measures and support the proposal by which a valid EU Digital COVID Certificate (DCC) is sufficient to travel without additional requirements (no further testing or quarantine).

It further highlights the following key points:

• The recommendation to shorten vaccine certificate validity to nine months and require an additional dose will create asymmetry between EU countries with different national vaccination levels as well as additional dose availability.

• The implementation date of 10^th January 2022 proposed by the European Commission would be too late to positively impact the Christmas holidays as both citizens and industry require certainty and coherent rules to prepare for end-of-year travel. 
• It is necessary to swiftly adopt the existing EU Digital Passenger Locator Form (dPLF) to achieve further harmonisation of travel measures and facilitate contact tracing across EU borders.

• The additional requirement of providing a negative PCR test for travellers vaccinated with a WHO-approved, but not EMA-approved vaccine, could create a two-tier system that would become very difficult to put in place. It is needed to recognise the whole list of WHO-approved vaccines without additional requirements for travellers.

On 23 November, EBI, together with many other boating sector representatives, participated in the Online MedSkippers Conference. This was the final conference of a project funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). The event covered the status of the charter sector in the Mediterranean and the main problems faced by the industry, its future expectations, and how professional skippers can contribute to consolidating the Mediterranean as a worldwide nautical tourism destination.

EBI Secretary General Philip Easthill took part in the opening session and presented the role and activities of EBI in representing the boating sector in the EU, highlighting that boating is a key part of the EUs blue economy and tourism landscape and requires more prioritization in EU policy-making. He also stressed on the importance of strengthening the profile of professional skippers and improve education at national level, as well as the need for a mutual recognition framework at the EU level, which would represent an added value of around 150€ million per year.

 He also moderated a panel discussion focused on the future of the charter sector in Europe with Martina Hrsak (COO, MMK Systems), Gonzalo León Álvarez (Industry Manager, Zizooboats), Paris Loutriotis (President, Hellenic Professional Yacht Owners Bareboat Association), Christos Petreas (Scientific Advisor, Hellenic Professional Yacht Owners Bareboat Association), and José Luís Fayos (Technical Advisor, Spanish Marine Trade Association ANEN). The full event can be re-watched on the website of the project: https://medskippersevent.com/ 

On 10 November 2021, EBI participated at the boot Düsseldorf Media Conference to present the 2022 edition of boot Düsseldorf to international journalists. EBI Secretary General Philip Easthill took part in a joint interview with boot Düsseldorf Project Director Petros Michelidakis. They presented the new Blue Innovation Dock stage, which will bring together visionaries, investors and policy-makers to make the recreational boating industry fit for the future and focus on sustainability, as well as the International Breakfast Meeting. The recording of the media conference can be found here and more information about boot Düsseldorf 2022 here:https://www.boot.com/

EBI and boot Düsseldorf announce that the 7th edition of the International Breakfast Meeting (IBM) will take place on 25 January 2022 and will focus on international trade opportunities and supply chain challenges.

The 2021 edition, held online, was attended by over 220 participants, and boasted the participation of European Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius. This marked the first time a European Commissioner participated in IBM, showing the importance of the event and presence of the boating industry in EU policy-making. In January 2022, the organisers of IBM, boot Düsseldorf and EBI, will revive the event in its traditional format. High-level panellists from business and politics will contribute to the discussion on the EU’s future approach to trade, as well as solutions to the supply chain constraints currently impacting the recreational boating industry based on best practices from other sectors.

The aim of the discussion at IBM 2022 is to help businesses navigate the EU’s future approach to trade, as well as discuss potential solutions to supply chain challenges and identify the opportunities for the boating sector over the coming years.

Registration is now open and can be accessed here.

On 25 October 2021, Messe Düsseldorf announced that the 2022 edition of the boot Düsseldorf will be held from 22 to 30 January 2022 back at full capacity, with over 1,500 exhibitors from more than 50 countries exposing in 17 exhibition halls on 220,000 square metres of exhibition space.

The proportion of exhibitors from abroad is over 60 per cent, with Italian manufacturers in the lead, ahead of the Netherlands, France and Great Britain. Among the countries outside Europe, the USA is in the lead. With, among others, Egypt, Mauritius, the Maldives, Madagascar, Indonesia or Palau, many popular and more distant diving destinations have returned to boot. In total, manufacturers, destinations and retailers from 53 countries will be taking part.

The Blue Growth Community, an initiative funded by the EU, adopted a Position Paper in reaction to the European Commission Communication on a Sustainable Blue Economy Strategy.

The position paper offers key messages identified by the Blue Growth Community related to areas covered by the Commission’s communication. The main areas covered by the position paper are circular blue economy, maritime spatial planning, research and innovation, blue investments, blue skills, maritime security, territorial cooperation, and marine renewable energies.

A section of the paper is dedicated to a sectoral approach for ensuring the sustainability of Coastal and Maritime tourism, which extensively covers recreational boating and yachting at different levels. In particular, this section proposes the following approaches:

• recommends a new model of recreational boating and yachting aligned with the Cohesion Policy principles in the maritime sector and in accordance with the European Green Deal
• promotes the adoption of a new economic business model to boost innovation, improve competitiveness, protect the environment and favour employment in the recreational boating and yachting sector
• encourages the development and optimisation of innovative technologies and services related to “smart marinas/ports” and small/medium ports for improving the ports’ ecosystem management and their environmental quality 
• supports the implementation of enabling measures for sustainable growth of the recreational boating and yachting sector. This includes the development of networks, inclusion in marketing activities by tourism destinations, alignment of reduced VAT rates across the entire tourism sector, and steps towards the mutual recognition of boater and professional skipper qualifications at EU level.

EBI, which is an active member of the Blue Growth Community, contributed to the paper by suggesting several solutions to improve European coastal tourism from the perspective of the boating industry. All EBI’s comments were integrated in the final version of the paper which is aligned with the key demands of the boating sector.

The Ocean Race published the “Sustainable Boat Building: Roadmap to 2030” that aims to help the racing and boating industry align with global 2030 requirements to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50%. The roadmap is the result of a process started in in 2021, when the Ocean Race commissioned a research and engagement project to survey industry representatives, review existing industry research and published action plans, and develop a Roadmap to highlight key ares where immediate action is required. To co-create this Roadmap, an Innovation Workshop was held in September 2021 to gather industry experts and stakeholders to define immediate actions. The roadmap encompasses several focus areas for the boating industry where action is required to drive a meaningful change and meet the emission targets: materials, waste, Energy & GHG Emissions, collaboration within the boating industry and the establishment of a set of rules for sustainability performance.

EBI participated in the workshop to provide input on the key issues of the boating industry together with other stakeholders. EBI has also indicated its support for the implementation phase of the roadmap.