Minister Lorencin was late because bura closed parts of A1 highway
Croatia’s largest nautical expo and one of the largest expos in the region Biograd Boat Show was officially opened on Thursday October 22, 2015 in Biograd. With almost 300 exhibitors and just as many new and used boats on display, this year’s event will probably once again break all attendance records. Along with boat manufacturers and dealers, nautical equipment and all other gear related to sailing, fishing or diving, special accent is placed on charter agencies.
This year’s Biograd Boat Show is also full of various trade and industry workshops and seminars and the first day way marked with the presentation of the Action plan for development of nautical tourism created by the Ministry of tourism and presented by Minister Darko Lorencin who was unable to open the expo because of slight problems he encountered on his way from Zagreb (Bura closed parts of the A1 highway as usual).
Even though our nautical tourism brings in 4% of the total number of guests, its revenues make up for 11% of our total annual tourism revenues so it was high time someone took this segment seriously and started thinking about the direction it should take in the future.
The 17th Biograd Boat Show has 14 boat premieres and from the looks of it, catamarans and trimarans are attracting the most attention, especially the new 600 000 euro worth Saba 50 by Fountaine Payot. This boat will be used for charter, and its weekly price is 14 000 euro.
Director of the Biograd Boat Expo Milan Šangulin commented on the success of the event “We’ve been growing continuously for 17 years and this year we have over 300 exhibitors and 300 boats. Because of such an increase in boats, we had to build a special pontoon bridge to activate the second part of the marina and to accommodate all vessels”
But this is not the only expansion; organizers had to add another expo hall to fit all the nautical equipment exhibitors. When asked if Croats are really considering boats as a holiday option, Šangulin commented: “Croats rarely spend their holidays on a yacht or a sail boat because they still believe it is a sport that can only be practiced by the very rich, but when you look at the price of a 7-day charter on a sail boat, it ends up being cheaper than hotel accommodation. Maybe after they visit the boat show and talk to the charter agencies that are exhibiting here they will realize it is indeed affordable and next year they will spend their holiday at sea”.
With more than 15 000 expected visitors, we are sure this year’s edition of Biograd Boat Show will prove this event is indeed the largest boat show in the sea in central Europe. It is open until Sunday, October 25th, price of admission is 35 kuna and along with the boats and workshops, you can aslo enjoy culinary presentations, concerts and many other entertaining events.
