From 18-20 November at RAI Amsterdam, the Marina & Yard Zone returned to the biggest marine equipment trade show in the world, Metstrade. The entire show featured around 1,700 exhibitors and around 30 unique country pavilions. Furthermore, this year’s 37th edition introduced Hall 8 for the first time, which was dedicated especially to the superyacht and refit markets.
In the weeks before the event, the director of Metstrade Niels Klarenbeek said that during uncertain times, the value of in-person networking becomes even clearer. “The event provides an arena where builders and suppliers can meet and discuss. These connections are essential right now.”
The three days of vibrant exhibitions and networking at the Marina & Yard Zone, where Marina World was the exclusive media partner, were certainly testament to the importance of people-to-people networking and relationships. The breadth and depth of companies participating in the Marina & Yard Zone was a clear demonstration of the level of innovation and progress currently abound in the industry, with some of the largest and most well-established pontoon and decking manufacturers rubbing shoulders with imaginative startups looking to shake up the marina industry with their unique innovations.
Marina World sales manager Brianna Johann said: “Metstrade 2025 was truly outstanding. We were thrilled by the high level of engagement and the invaluable face-to-face connections we made with our readership and industry partners throughout the event. Hosting our signature Marina World stand drinks was an absolute highlight, reinforcing the vital community spirit of the global marine sector. We are already looking forward to building on this energy next year!”
From docks to data
Another highlight of Metstrade was a panel discussion hosted by Pick a Pier’s Idan Cohen on the topic of “From docks to data: Connecting the industry for smarter marinas” on behalf of the ICOMIA Smart Marina Working Group. The panel discussion was joined by Arturo Gutierrez, General Manager EMEA at the Freedom Boat Club; and Vienna Eleuteri, CEO Advisor at the Saudi Red Sea Authority, with contributions from Joe Lynch, CEO of ICOMIA; and John White, Chair of the ICOMIA Marinas Group and General Manager of The Yacht Harbour Association.
The key takeaways from the discussion included the importance of data being the foundation of investment, sustainability and customer experience, combined with greater education about marinas and renewed mindsets about what they can offer communities. Despite large geographic differences, there was agreement that the industry across the US, Europe and Middle East face similar challenges. Furthermore, it was agreed that while private equity will push the data agenda forward, smaller marinas must be guided.
However, amongst discussion about the importance of using data in the marina industry to optimise performance - as has been successful elsewhere in the hospitality sector - there must also be an understanding that not all data is created equal. There is good data and there is bad data. For the marina industry to approach these challenges most effectively, there needs to be greater understanding of precisely which data marina operators need, why they need it, how it will be used and, crucially, how to approach all of these aspects in a unified way that benefits marina owners and managers, and doesn’t compromise the data security of marina users.
Computer programming and, more generally, decision making, works on the principle of “garbage in, garbage out”. This means that the output of a decision making process will only be as good as the input. Bad data means bad decisions and good data means good decisions. Equal attention must also be paid to how to ensure that good data is gathered to benefit marina managers and operators as gathering any random data - or, even worse, bad data - will have the opposite effect.
Marina World looks forward to once again supporting Metstrade in its 38th edition, taking place at RAI Amsterdam on 17-19 November 2026.
