The building works may have created some logistical problems for the Monaco Yacht Show. However, the 25th edition, held from September 23-26, 2015, was a positive one.

According to the organisers, visitor numbers for 2015 reached approximately 34,500, up on 2014’s figure of 33,000 visitors. Also present were 121 superyachts and over 530 exhibiting companies. Visitors also commented about the level of bonhomie not seen since the order book caught up with the crisis in 2011 and market sentiment plummeted.

A quarter of a century ago, the Principality of Monaco had no flagship yachting event of its own, despite already being the international meeting point for large yacht owners and their broker agents who arrived in Port Hercules to discuss sale, charter and refitting. Deals were struck, contracts signed and new yachts were built as a result of those meetings and the local authorities realised they should develop yacht business activities around this iconic venue.

Those who attended the very first edition of the Monaco Yacht Show in 1991 recall that the entire event was staged along Quai des Etats-Unis with around 50 exhibiting companies, mainly from Monaco and the French Riviera eager to show their wares. Just a handful of foreign companies took stands and 30 yachts whose average length was just 32 metres were made available to those who sought to inspect them. Today, the Monaco Yacht Show has grown into the world’s premier superyacht event. Few can argue now that Monaco is the world hub of the superyacht industry and the jewel in the industry’s crown is undoubtedly Monaco’s annual yachting show.